Uncompensated Care Sliding Scale Policy

POLICY:  To assist patients unable to pay for basic, medically necessary hospital-level care by providing the opportunity to obtain financial assistance through internal charitable guidelines demonstrated under the hospital’s Uncompensated Care Plan.  This plan applies a sliding scale that determines a patient’s amount of charitable reduction.  This scale is driven by a patients/families household income and unit size in relation to a percentile increase over the Federal Poverty Guidelines.

PURPOSE:  To provide quality health care to patients who are unable to pay for all or a portion of their medically necessary services and who do not meet the Federal Poverty Guidelines or the Uncompensated Care guidelines determined and implemented by Wood County Hospital.

PROCEDURE:  Patient is determined eligible if the following guidelines are met.

• The patient is a current resident of Ohio

• The patient is not a Medicaid recipient

• The patient’s individual or family income is over the Federal Poverty Guidelines wherein the Uncompensated Care sliding scale would be implemented.

• The income 3 months prior to date of hospital service.

• Fixed income statements from the payer or provided on bank statements

• Oral declarations of financial status 

Applications are completed and returned to the Financial Counselor. 

• The Financial Counselor reviews the applications.

• If eligible for sliding scale, the Financial Counselor posts adjustments using transaction code for sliding scale.

• The sliding scale provides percentile driven adjustments based on income and family size as a sliding percentage of the federal poverty guidelines.  (see attached). 

• The patient is notified of approval or denial by the Financial Counselor.

Updated 02-11-09

Updated 05-21-09, 08-21-2013

Updated 03/01/2014

Reviewed: April 2016, November 2017