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Voluntary Policy Gives Discounts to Moderate-Income Washington Residents
All community hospitals in Washington State, including Snoqualmie Valley Hospital are voluntarily expanding their guidelines for patient financial assistance. More Washington residents will be eligible for hospital discounts, patients will be better informed about hospitals’ financial assistance programs, and hospital boards will provide more oversight of collection practices. This action makes Washington State’s hospital financial assistance guidelines among the most expansive in the nation.
A patient’s story: A retired 67 year old man was admitted to Snoqualmie Valley Hospital for a psychiatric evaluation and a lung cancer work up. His portion of the costs for his stay in the hospital including room charges in a geriatric psych specialty unit and testing performed in the hospital came to over $11,400. While his annual Social Security income was $14, 412, his annual expenses for assisted living and medications were over $49,000 a year. His personal assets of $38,000 were being used to make up the difference. His family made application for Charity Care on his behalf to reduce his hospital liability and allow him to continue to meet his needs for medication and living accommodations. Snoqualmie Valley Hospital granted charity care for the full amount exceeding $11,400.
Providing health care to those that cannot afford to pay is part of the goal of Washington’s hospitals. All Washington hospitals offer financial assistance, commonly referred to as charity care, to low-income patients. The new voluntary policy requires discounted care for middle-income patients and creates a statewide standard for financial assistance.
The highlights of the new policy are:
• Discounts for patients: Washington hospitals’ voluntary guidelines assure all hospitals will give discounts to uninsured patients up to 300 percent of the federal poverty level, about $60,000 for a family of four. There are three levels of discounts, depending on the patient’s income level.
• Collections: Hospital boards will increase oversight of collection policies. Hospitals will establish clear and consistent policies before accounts can be sent to collection.
• Notice to patients: Hospitals will provide more information to patients about financial assistance. Every patient will receive a written notice about financial assistance.
Facts about Charity Care
Washington State is one of only a few states with a law governing charity care. The law was enacted in 1990 with the support of Washington’s hospitals. Other states with charity care laws have usually developed mechanisms to fund the care provided. In Washington, however, there is no charity care pool to reimburse hospitals for their costs. In 2006, hospitals provided $217 million in charity care. This number reflects actual hospital costs, not hospital charges. To view a chart of the growth in the cost of hospital charity care over the last six years, visit www.wsha.org/files/65/charity_care_graph.pdf.
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