Source: Colorado Newsline
Nearly 40% of hospitals in Colorado do not meet regulations on informing patients about the state’s discounted care program on their website, according to a recent report from a consumer protection group.
An audit of the state’s 89 hospitals from the Colorado Consumer Health Initiative found that just 58% meet the complete regulatory website requirements for the hospital discounted care program. Patients are not always able to find accurate, thorough information about their financial assistance options for health care.
“We can do all the work in the policy space, but the policy is only as good as how it is implemented,” said Sophia Hennessy, CCHI’s policy and research coordinator. “Consumers need to know about it to be able to use it, and to use it well. It’s absolutely on hospitals to help notify them of their rights.”
CCHI is a nonpartisan nonprofit that has helped pass legislation around health care consumer protection, including the 2021 discounted care program bill that went into effect in September 2022.
The program expands existing charity care law in the state and sets baseline requirements for financial assistance for uninsured patients under a certain household income level — currently about $51,000 for a two-person household. It sets limits on service charges based on a patient’s monthly income and then restricts payment plans to three years. Hospitals are required to screen all uninsured patients for financial assistance eligibility.
Advocates say it is critical to limiting or curbing medical debt in Colorado.
CCHI’s report, however, concluded that information about the program is not readily available online or over the phone at some hospitals. Researchers used a five-point rubric to score hospital websites, determining whether the hospital posted the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing patients’ rights form in English and Spanish, posted the discounted care uniform application in English, linked to information about discounted care on its landing page, and included information in a “conspicuous manner.” That generally mirrors the department’s regulations.
Researchers defined conspicuous posting as having the patients’ rights forms and application grouped together under a heading that read “Hospital Discounted Care.” That was the most frequent reason for point deduction, as 36 hospitals did not meet the standard.
