Charity Care
Consistent with Loretto Hospital’s values of compassion and stewardship, it is the policy of Loretto Hospital to provide charity care to patients in need. This policy identifies circumstances under which Loretto Hospital will extend free of charge or at a reduced amount, to an individual who is willing to pay for health care services, but whose financial status makes it impossible or impractical to pay fully for the services. The necessity for health care services will be based upon clinical judgment without regard to the financial status of the individual. Given the sensitive nature of these requests, all communications with the patient or family members will be handled in strict confidence and in a compassionate manner. Charity Care is health care services that Loretto Hospital agrees to provide free of charge, or at a reduced amount, to individuals who meet financial eligibility criteria.
The process for obtaining Charity Care:
A request for financial assistance can be initiated by the patient, family member; patient’s attending physician, Patient Financial Service staff member or other health care department staff member, prior to, at the time services are rendered or as soon thereafter as possible.
As part of the insurance verification process, potential candidates for charity care will be identified by the Patient Financial Services staff. Additional candidates may be identified later in the account process through discussions with patients regarding their self pay obligations.
To ensure that charity allowances are granted for legitimate purposes, charity applications are submitted to the Patient Financial Services Department. Completed applications are initially reviewed and evaluated by the Patient Financial Services Director. Considering the patient’s individual circumstances and utilizing financial criteria and approved write off limits, the Director can either approve the request or recommend an appropriate amount of charity write off.
Recommended write offs beyond the Directors approval limit are submitted to the Chief Financial Officer for final approval of the charity amount.
The Charity Care evaluation guidelines:
The amount of charity care approved will be based on financial eligibility criteria including, but not limited to current and anticipated future family income, assets, and expenses (including health care expenses), extenuating financial circumstances and availability of third party health care benefits. Specific criteria and formulas will be used as guidelines to determine charity adjustments; will be established annually for Loretto Hospital and may change with community, government and market influence. These formulas are maintained and updated annually by the Patient Financial Services department and are approved by the Chief Financial Officer.
If the patient is eligible for “General Assistance”, he/she has already been determined to be indigent and no further proof of income is required. These accounts will be forwarded to the Patient Accounts Manager for Charity write-off.
If the Financial Services Department feels that the patient or family members qualify for assistance thru a State or Government funded program, an application will be submitted and charity care application will be processed pending the outcome of the assistance application. The patient or family members must co-operate with the application process for assistance to qualify for charity care.
The amount of charity care will be determined once all third party payments have been received.
If you have any questions, please call our Patient Financial Services Manager at 773-854-5036.