New York Budget Would Place Caps On Cost Of Care For Low-Income Uninsured

Main Category: Health Insurance / Medical Insurance
Article Date: 04 Apr 2006 - 11:00 PDT

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New York lawmakers have agreed to provisions in the new state budget that would place a limit on the amount hospitals can charge low-income, uninsured patients for services, Long Island Newsday reports. Under the provisions, patients with annual incomes at or below 100% of the federal poverty level would be charged "a nominal payment amount." For patients with incomes between 100% and 250% of the federal poverty level, hospitals would use a sliding fee scale, and for patients with incomes between 250% and 300% of the federal poverty level, hospitals would not be allowed to charge more than what the largest group insurer -- for example Medicaid -- has negotiated with the hospital. In addition, the provisions would block hospitals from forcing the sale of a person's home to pay for medical bills and from requesting the assistance of a collection agency if the person has filed for financial aid. Hospitals also would be required to make charity care policies clear to patients and to report to the state how many patients filed for financial aid and the hospitals' costs for providing the care. Assembly member Pete Grannis (D), who helped write the provisions, said, "This is a very big breakthrough," adding that without the changes low-income, uninsured patients "could be charged two, three, five times as much as someone with Medicaid." State Sen. Kemp Hannon (R), who also helped with the provisions, said Gov. George Pataki (R) is unlikely to object to most of the provisions in part because they represent a consensus among legislators, hospitals and advocates for low-income patients (Ochs, Long Island Newsday, 3/30).

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