Hospitals Must Provide Charity Care Assistance Program
February 14, 2012
Author: Trilby de Jung
Charity care refers to free or low cost care provided by hospitals to uninsured or underinsured patients. New York State has provided significant state funding to hospitals for charity care since 1983, but it wasn’t until 2007 that hospitals were actually required to provide charity care to uninsured patients under the Hospital Financial Assistance Law (HFAL). HFAL, codified at §2807-k(9-a) of the New York Public Health Law, provides advocates with a powerful new tool in advocating for uninsured clients facing hospital bills or in need of medical care from hospitals.
HFAL establishes a sliding fee scale rate for all uninsured patients living at or below 300% of the federal poverty line (FPL). All hospitals in New York must have financial assistance programs, with policies for determining eligibility for discounted care on file with the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH). In addition HFAL limits collection practices for hospitals. For example, HFAL prohibits hospitals from issuing bills or collection notices while an application for financial assistance is pending.
Unfortunately, there is no parallel law applicable to health care providers who are not hospitals or directly employed by hospitals. Thus, patients who are billed by physicians practicing at hospitals but not employed by the hospital do not have the protection created by HFAL regarding limits on charges and collection practices, or the right to apply for financial assistance.
The article is part of New York Health Access website. NY Health Access is a website created and maintained by Empire Justice, Self-Help, Inc., and the Legal Aid Society of New York City. The site has proved extremely helpful to advocates across the state and is enjoying over 10,000 visits a day since its launch at the end of 2009.