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u.s. news Dialuna 11 OctOber 2021

Advocates, lawmakers push hospitals to help more with bills

(AP) - Swamped with have smoothed out cumber- Hernandez, a community
medical bills? The hospi- some applications. health worker at the advocacy
tal that treated you may group Enlace Chicago.
be able to help. But it can be hard to identify
everyone who needs help, Most patients, Hernandez
Whether you learn about this said Rick Gundling, a se- said, are never informed
before those bills wind up in nior vice president with the about available assistance or
debt collections is another Healthcare Financial Man- even that hospitals have in-
matter. agement Association, which terpreters.
consults with hospitals.
Medical bills often represent “They’re not told that they
large, unexpected shocks that “I think many times when can ask for a social worker at
can crash personal budgets. the patient doesn’t have the a hospital,” she said “and so
Roughly 1 in 7 U.S. resi- money, they retreat or they patients don’t ask.”
dents with a credit record has don’t ask for help, when the
medical debt in collections, hospital can help,” Gundling Hernandez and Enlace helped
according to the nonprofit said. a Spanish-speaking janitor
Urban Institute. resolve nearly $100,000 in
Assisting people in the mid- medical debt that had gone to
Hospitals have ways to keep dle of a medical crisis can be collections after his wife had per application that required nearby Franklin earlier this
more people from join- difficult. Patients often have two strokes last year. several documents. year for a $1,500 bill, but they
ing those ranks. Those can no idea when they receive couldn’t settle on a payment
include income-based dis- care what it will ultimately The janitor, Arturo, is a 43- “We’re here to take care of plan that fit her budget.
counts, payment plans, help cost and how much help they year old Mexican immigrant people. We’re not here to
finding health insurance or will need. A slew of insur- who spoke to The Associated have people worry about Health problems prevent
waiving a bill and writing it ance notices and bills that ar- Press on the condition that it their medical bills,” said Smith from working. Living
off as charity care. rive later can sow more con- not publish his last name be- Kristi Cushman, the center’s expenses and prescriptions
fusion. cause he fears being deported. director of patient access ser- consume most of the $2,300
But people frequently miss He said he tried talking about vices. a month the 57-year-old gets
notices in their bills about Benjamin said she once bills with one of the hospi- from a pension and Social
assistance or have trouble helped a patient who had one tals that treated his wife. But Several states have laws that Security.
plowing through the paper- kidney stone removed and he never heard back about a require hospitals to offer a
work to qualify, patient coun- received 28 bills. possible debt resolution until range of free or discounted She found the hospital’s ap-
selors say. They say hospitals Enlace got involved. care, usually based on in- plication for financial help
need to do more to ensure Hospitals frequently post no- come, according to the Na- online, but she never com-
patients know about available tices about financial help on “When you are treated, it tional Consumer Law Cen- pleted it. That form asks for
help. emergency rooms walls or in calms you down a bit … but ter. copies of bank statements,
bills sent to patient homes. once the bills come, where’s utility and credit card bills,
“We need a whole new mind- But those can be overlooked the help?” he asked. A new Maryland law requires car payments and other pa-
set,” said Elisabeth Benjamin, or forgotten. hospitals to show that they perwork. To Smith, it felt like
a vice president with the non- Hospitals often post infor- provided information on fi- they wanted reasons to reject
profit Community Service “People never read the whole mation about available help nancial assistance and made her.
Society of New York. “A hos- bill. They’re scary and over- online. But that can be hard a good-faith effort to set up a
pital’s a charity ... (it) should whelming,” said Benjamin, to find. payment plan before they sue Medical center spokesman
be figuring out why a patient who would like to see hospi- over a medical debt. Mike Alday said he couldn’t
isn’t able to pay a bill.” tals include a one-page finan- Jared Walker, who runs a comment on a specific pa-
cial aid form with their bills. nonprofit called Dollar For That makes the hospital prove tient’s situation. But he did
The Affordable Care Act re- that helps people with medi- it has done all it can to make say the medical center has
quires nonprofit hospitals to Other advocates say infor- cal debt, posted a TikTok vid- patient payments affordable, to confirm a patient’s finan-
tell patients about financial mation about financial assis- eo in January that shows how said Marceline White, execu- cial need before providing
help, but it leaves the details tance should be included on to search for financial assis- tive director of the Maryland help, and the information it
for how that gets done or the paper that’s a different color tance on hospital websites. It Consumer Rights Coalition. requests is standard among
extent of the assistance large- and more noticeable. They has since been viewed more hospitals.
ly up to them. Patient coun- also want hospitals to check than 20 million times. “It shifts the burden appro-
selors see little consistency. back in with patients to see priately to the hospital, the Alday said the medical center
if they need help once a bill “Hospitals aren’t shouting multimillion-dollar entity, as makes financial counselors
Hospitals say they often no- becomes overdue. from the rooftops that you opposed to the person mak- available and offers discounts
tify patients several times can apply for charity care, ing $40,000,” she said. and payment plans if patients
about available help. They’ve Communication often is the that’s for damn sure,” said don’t complete financial aid
also eased income limits for biggest barrier low-income Walker. No such burdens have shift- applications. It would give
assistance during the CO- patients face in dealing with ed in Tennessee, where Deb- someone with a $1,500 out-
VID-19 pandemic, and some hospitals, according to Ilda Some hospitals — and state ra Smith worries she may be standing balance 18 months
lawmakers — are trying to denied future medical care to pay it off. That amounts to
make improvements. because of her bills. monthly payments of around
$83.
Oregon Health & Science The Spring Hill resident
University slimmed its appli- figures she has more than Smith figures she can handle
cation for assistance a couple $10,000 in unpaid medical about $10 a month, which
years ago. bills from a string of hospi- she said the hospital rejected.
tal stays over the past year,
When someone requests even though she has cover- “I know the hospitals needs
help paying for emergency age through Medicare. She their money but ... I am in
or medically necessary care, hasn’t been able to make need too,” she said. “I don’t
the Portland academic health much progress paying them want anything for free, but
center now just asks for pa- off. under the circumstances a
tient income, which it veri- little understanding would
fies with a soft credit check. Smith sought help from Wil- be nice.”
That approach replaced a pa- liamson Medical Center in