Patient Advocates ‘Praise’ Hospitals for Efforts to Improve Publicity of Charity Care

After "scold[ing]" Columbus, Ohio, hospitals in a December report for "keeping quiet" about charity care options for the uninsured, the advocacy group Universal Health Care Action Network of Ohio on July 31 issued an "updated report" that "praised" the hospitals' efforts since then to promote such care, the Columbus Dispatch reports. Columbus hospitals offer free care both through the state Hospital Care Assurance Program, which covers hospital services provided to people with annual incomes below the federal poverty level, or $17,650 for a family of four, and through their own programs, which vary by facility. Since December, the hospitals have agreed to use a common application for patients applying for free care through the state program. Hospitals have also installed multilingual signs alerting non-English-speaking patients that free care is available. Cathy Levine, the action network's policy director, said that changes in staff training and "improved communication with patients" are also "coming along." However, saying that there is still "much to do" to extend hospital care to the uninsured, the group recommended that hospitals extend charity care to cover patients with incomes up to 200% of the federal poverty level. Currently, two area hospitals offer full care to those earning up to 200% FPL, while "most" of the others have sliding scales over 100% FPL. Russ Kennedy, a spokesperson for the Mount Carmel hospital chain, expressed concern that under such a plan, hospitals in lower-income areas "will bear a disproportionate share" of charity care costs. Frank Swinehart, senior vice president of OhioHealth, which operates four Columbus-area hospitals, said, "(The report) raised our awareness, and now we think we're doing a better job" (Crane, Columbus Dispatch, 8/1).