Hospitals Turning Patients Away

Yesterday, The Wall Street Journal contained an article entitled, “Cash Before Chemo: Hospitals Get Tough.” The genesis of the article is that non-profit hospitals are requiring patients to pay up front before services are rendered, from chemotherapy to surgeries, due to the large amount of outstanding debt from patients. The patients impacted are primarily those currently uninsured and underinsured. The prepayment amounts per patient were staggering, ranging from $75,000 to $300,000. Most non-profit hospitals have missions that center around serving the indigent population, thereby making this new business practice a complete contradiction to their guiding principles. In addition, this practice aids is the hospitals bottom lines, by ensuring a positive cash flow. According to the article, “Federal law requires hospitals to treat emergencies, such as heart attacks or injuries from accidents. But the law doesn’t cover conditions that aren’t immediately life-threatening.” This gives hospitals a loop-hole to deny services to people fighting cancer and needing other non-emergency surgeries.

While I understand that hospitals, even non-profit hospitals, need to be compensated for the services provided, there needs to be a compromise between paying $100,000 up front for services to not receiving the services at all. I should add that my father has spent the past two weeks in the hospital; therefore my opinion may be jaded. He was admitted by the paramedics and in my mother’s attempt to hurry; she left her health insurance card at home. My father received services under the Federal requirement and later it was determined that the hospital had his insurance card on file. I am appalled that hospitals have adopted this practice. I find it completely unethical and bad business.

http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB120934207044648511.html?mod=2_1566_topbox