Cleveland Clinic to cut charity care for some patients

Associated Press

CLEVELAND

Tough economic times are forcing the Cleveland Clinic to cut charity care for some patients.

All Northeast Ohio Clinic facilities will stop routinely accepting uninsured patients who can’t pay for treatments, aren’t eligible for government assistance and who live more than 150 miles away from Cleveland, The Plain Dealer reported.

Clinic spokeswoman Eileen Sheil said the changes will apply to people who earn between 250 percent and 400 percent of the federal poverty level. (A family of four that makes $88,200 a year is at 400 percent of the federal poverty level.) Those who earn less are eligible for other aid, and those who earn more are expected to pay.

The clinic will treat some cash-strapped patients who live more than 150 miles away in rare cases but only after a referral, Sheil told The Plain Dealer.

The changes will go into effect Jan. 1.

The clinic also plans to ask insured patients how they will pay for care not covered by their insurance — before they undergo a procedure.

Sheil said the percentage of insured patients who don’t pay their share of their bills has risen from 43 percent to 50 percent in the past few years. That’s due in part to employees’ having to pay for larger portions of their health-care costs.

“It’s a huge loss to the clinic,” Sheil said, “and the burden should not fall on the hospital.”

The economy is to blame for both changes, The Plain Dealer reported.

“It’s increased the number of people needing charity care,” Sheil said. “And we have to start protecting the resources we have to better care for the people in our community.”

The clinic spent almost $120 million on free or discounted care for poor patients in the last fiscal year — a $20 million increase from the year before.