University of Mississippi Medical Center officials are considering charging poor patients a $30 co-pay before receiving care, a move UMC said is necessary because of declining financial support from the state.
Whether the proposal would comply with federal law is under discussion, Jones said. A 1986 federal law requires hospitals receiving Medicaid and Medicare funding to treat patients in the emergency room "regardless of (their) ability to pay."
Dr. Dan Jones, UMCvice chancellor, said patients with medical emergencies still would receive treatment. The $30 would help the hospital offset rising health-care costs and encourage those with non-emergencies to seek care from county health clinics and not the emergency room, he said.
In 2002, UMC spent $43 million caring for the uninsured. In the budget year that ended June 30, the hospital spent $75 million — a sixth of its $450 million operating budget — on indigent care, Jones said.
Jones said the proposed $30 payment is the by-product of declining state revenues. UMC is receiving $30 million less a year in operating money from the state than five years ago, while the cost of indigent care has increased, Jones said.
(via Chris Joyner, The Clarion-Ledger)
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