But perhaps most critically for patients, it’s considering changes to its financial assistance policy.<\/p>\n
Right now, families making up to 400% of the federal poverty level can qualify for free or steeply discounted care. Under the proposal, those discounts would shrink. Patients making between 250% and 300% of the poverty level would see their coverage reduced from 100% of the bill to 75%. Those making between 300% and 400% would see discounts drop from 75% to 70%.<\/p>\n
Patients would also have to meet with a financial counselor to qualify, said MetroHealth\u2019s vice president of revenue cycle Nikki Davis.<\/p>\n
“We are wanting our patients to actively engage with our financial eligibility team and have that conversation with them to see what they’re eligible for and educate them on the options that are out there,” said Davis. “Many of our patients aren’t aware that they can qualify for these insurances.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb recently raised alarms when he suggested MetroHealth might have to close due to Medicare and Medicaid cuts.<\/p>\n
In the meantime, for those who don’t have insurance, the financial assistance team will work out a discount. If a patient is a single worker earning $19 an hour without health insurance and gets an $800 medical bill, MetroHealth currently covers the full amount. Under the new policy, the patient would owe $200. If the patient couldn\u2019t pay, a payment plan would be available for as little as $5 a month.<\/p>\n
Will patients be paying more out of pocket?<\/p>\n
Some patients will likely pay more if the new rules are approved.<\/p>\n
MetroHealth says it has no intention of turning anyone away, but leaders argue the changes are necessary to keep the system afloat.<\/p>\n
Community advocates aren\u2019t convinced. <\/p>\n
\u201cMetroHealth says it\u2019s not going to turn you away,\u201d said Gail Long, former director of the nonprofit Merrick House and a longtime advocate for vulnerable patients. \u201cBut at the same time, you don\u2019t want people putting themselves in the position where, \u2018I\u2019m not going to go if it\u2019s going to cost me and I can\u2019t afford to pay for it.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Are other hospitals dealing with this too?<\/p>\n
Safety-net hospitals around the country are under financial strain \u2014 and with looming Medicaid cuts, charity care needs are expected to climb.<\/p>\n
Health care consultant Tom Campanella said hospitals usually try to avoid cutting charity care and instead look for efficiencies or partnerships. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere may be ways to enter into collaborative relationships with medical device companies or technology companies,\u201d he said. \u201cOr (they may) collaborate with a third party that\u2019s really good at helping uninsured people get coverage.\u201d<\/p>\n
MetroHealth is pursuing some of those strategies, but leaders admit there are no easy solutions.<\/p>\n
Could MetroHealth close?<\/p>\n
Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb recently raised alarms when he suggested in a national media interview that MetroHealth could be forced to shut down if federal funding is slashed.<\/p>\n
MetroHealth officials say they\u2019re committed to staying open. Some Cuyahoga County leaders have expressed wanting to increase their support, though the county faces its own budget deficit.<\/p>\n
In the meantime, MetroHealth is launching a community enrollment campaign this fall, partnering with churches, nonprofits and local governments to help more people sign up for coverage during open enrollment in November. Leaders say how successful that campaign is will determine how deeply the charity care program has to be cut.<\/p>\n
The hospital\u2019s board is expected to finalize its new charity care policy before the end of the year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MetroHealth System says it\u2019s in financial crisis, with uncompensated care now costing the system more than $1 million…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":204840,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[97,252,253],"class_list":["post-204839","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health-care","tag-health","tag-health-care","tag-healthcare"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204839","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=204839"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204839\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/204840"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=204839"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=204839"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=204839"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}