Mayo Clinic To Offer Discounts To Uninsured Patients

The Mayo Clinic on Thursday announced plans to offer discounts to uninsured patients as part of an agreement reached earlier this month between Minnesota Attorney General Mike Hatch (D) and the Minnesota Hospital Association, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports. Under the agreement, hospitals will charge uninsured patients with annual household incomes of less than $125,000 the lowest prices offered to managed care plan members. The agreement also requires hospitals to revise debt-collection practices to allow patients to establish payment plans and challenge potential billing errors. Allina Hospitals & Clinics, Fairview Health Services, Park Nicollet Health Services and HealthEast Care System have signed the agreement. The Mayo Clinic plans to sign the agreement within 30 days. "We support the spirit of this agreement," Hugh Smith, chair of the Mayo Clinic Board of Governors, said, adding, "We feel the principles generally are consistent with Mayo's collection and charity care practices." Mayo Clinic spokesperson Chris Gade said that the hospital system does not offer large discounts to managed care plan members, and, as a result, uninsured patients likely will not receive large discounts under the agreement. Leslie Sandberg, a spokesperson for Hatch, said, "We think the agreement is a model, and we hope all hospitals will sign" (Howatt, Minneapolis Star Tribune, 5/20).