Changes to Medical Center's financial assistance policy effective July 1, 2016

On July 1, new Internal Revenue Service regulations regarding financial assistance took effect, changing the requirements not-for-profit hospitals and health systems must meet to keep their tax-exempt status. The revised regulations are part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and will be implemented at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center.

The changes include requiring hospitals and health systems to:

• Have a written financial assistance policy and “plain language summary” of the policy available to the public.
• Limit the amounts that can be charged for medically-necessary care to individuals eligible for financial assistance, charging only “amounts generally billed” for such care. This means patients without insurance who qualify for financial assistance will get a discount equal to those who have coverage. The Medical Center will also apply this discount to all self-pay patients (except for international patients), although it is not required to do so by the new regulations.
• Refrain from extraordinary collection actions – such as selling the debt to a third party or reporting delinquent debt to a credit bureau – before making reasonable efforts to determine whether an individual qualifies for financial assistance.

Also on July 1, the Medical Center will move to a new policy that provides 100-percent financial assistance for medically necessary services to individuals who qualify. Income is the primary factor when determining eligibility. At the Medical Center, individuals who have an income at or below 300 percent of the U.S. Federal Poverty Level will be eligible for financial assistance. The ‘300 percent' threshold is $72,750 for a family of four.

All patients who currently qualify for financial assistance will need to reapply. The Medical Center has mailed information on how to do so to affected individuals while also making information available on its website.

More information about the Medical Center's financial assistance policy, including the new financial assistance application and a “plain language summary” of the policy, is available on the Patient Financial Services page. Patients can also call 717-531-5069 or 1-800-254-2619. Office hours are Monday-Wednesday 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and Thursday-Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

EDITORS: The following high-resolution video clips are available for download. They feature Rhea Heath, director of professional revenue operations, Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center.

CLIP #1: “Effective July 1, the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center is going live with our new financial assistance policy. While we’ve always had a financial assistance policy, we took the opportunity provided by some updated requirements in the Affordable Care Act to streamline and provide more access to financial assistance for our patient population. We are currently in the process of updating our patient population with those requirements and any new responsibilities that they might have to apply for financial assistance.”

CLIP #2: “After July 1, all of our patients who have already applied for financial assistance will need to reapply for financial assistance. They can find information on how to do so on our website, also by contacting our financial counselors or our customer service representatives.”

CLIP #3: “Under the old financial assistance policy, Penn State Health had a sliding scale for financial assistance approval. We have taken the opportunity to streamline our financial assistance, and now under the new policy, we will provide 100 percent financial assistance to individuals who are at or below the 300 percent of federal poverty guidelines.”

CLIP #4: “Under the new financial assistance regulations, patients that qualify for financial assistance will no longer be charged than the amounts generally billed to patients with insurance. Penn State Health is taking the opportunity to extend this discount to all self-pay patients, irregardless of their financial assistance qualification.”

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