Question: My husband was in the hospital recently and when we got the hospital bill for our co-pay for the stay there was an application for Charity Care. Why did they send us that? Did our insurance not cover our stay?

Answer: I have talked with a number of individuals who have been telling me a similar story. WCA Hospital, oops UPMC Chautauqua WCA, has begun to make many changes that this new ownership brings. The handling of the hospital billing is one of those changes. (I am having a hard time remembering the new name, so I need to practice that a little more.)

You being sent that application for Charity Care had nothing to do with your insurance coverage of your hospital bill or emergency room bill. The application for Charity Care was included in everyone’s statement. To determine your insurance coverage of that visit, please review your explanation of benefits that you will receive from your insurance provider. Whether Original Medicare or a Medicare Advantage Plan, your insurance company will send you a statement explaining the amount your visit cost, their portion of the payment and your portion of the payment due. The Explanation of Benefits are mailed quarterly for Original Medicare. Explanation of Benefits for other products are mailed either monthly or as necessary when you access healthcare.

Speaking historically WCA Hospital had Charity Care to help those individuals who did not feel they could afford to pay the hospital bill. The Charity Care program has been around for many years. I found that most individuals did not know of its existence and therefore did not apply for it. To get a Charity Care application you previously had to call WCA billing and ask for a copy of the application. You could complete the application and return it for processing. If approved you would pay a lesser amount than the total originally billed to you. In some situations, individuals had the entire co-pay forgiven using this Charity Care Program.

UPMC Chautauqua WCA has instituted a different approach. They are sending everyone who receives a bill from being in the Hospital or Emergency Room a copy of the Charity Care information including the application. This approach allows everyone to be aware that this program is available and can be used to help you cover the cost of your hospital stay.

The Financial Assistance Program (called Charity Care) does have income guidelines that help you to understand who could be eligible for this financial help. There are other issues that are evaluated as part of the application process. There are also situations where your insurance coverage excludes you from using Charity Care. I would always encourage individuals who feel they meet the income guidelines or feel they cannot afford the bill to complete the Charity Care application. You can also call and talk with UPMC Chautauqua WCA billing staff to review other options for paying this bill.

You can also access the web to find this information. The link is. This link will bring you to the information and application you will need to learn about Charity Care at UPMC Chautauqua WCA. You may also call Customer Service at 664-0459 during normal business hours.

Another option for paying your hospital co-pay or hospital bill is to set up a payment plan. This payment plan can be small monthly amount that you make toward the total bill due. I definitely recommend setting up a payment plan instead of using a credit card to pay off the bill. The payment plan that the Billing Department helps you set up is a no interest way of getting that bill paid off over time. It may take a few months or a few years to get it paid off, but you will not pay any interest on that initial amount. All the money you send them goes towards your initial bill. If you pay that bill using a credit card and make the same monthly payments on your balance, you are going to pay a significant amount of interest over time on that bill. It will also take you longer to get it paid off because you are paying the credit card company interest on that initial balance. So call the UPMC Chautauqua WCA billing department and set up a payment plan for that larger amount. That number again is 664-0459.

Another important bit of information as quoted from UPMC Chautauqua WCA website, “Emergency service will never be delayed or withheld on the basis of a patient’s ability to pay.”

Be sure to pay attention as the UPMC Chautauqua WCA makes other exciting changes to the services offered.

To contact Janell Sluga, GCMC with questions or concerns, please call 720-9797 or e-mail her at janells@lutheran-jamestown.org.