Western Pennsylvania Healthcare News

Covering healthcare news in the Pittsburgh region and beyond.

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How to get debt relief for medical bills?

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Accidents are sudden; they come in anytime without any prior show, but can leave you devasted. There are many such incidents recorded that growing medical bills have compelled individuals to declare bankruptcy. Well, no one on this planet would want something so horrible and terrible to happen to them. At the same time, no one can deny the fact that medical bills can put people with a low salary sale into a financial crisis. What is to be done, under such a situation? Is there anything that can bring debt relief for medical bills? How can one avail of the same? 

To finds answers to all these questions, read the article and save yourself from going bankrupt. But before that, you need to know the causes of individual bankruptcy caused by over piling of medical debt. Well, this is something that not everybody would like to read. But it is better to be cautious and alert than to stay ignorant. 

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Features And The Process To Avail Medical Loans

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A loan may have a specific name but can be used for different purposes according to its terms and features. Few loans such as student loan, marriage loam, home loan or an auto loan are meant to be spent for the specific purpose the loan is designed for but others such as a personal loan can be used for varied purposes and are given to you with no questions asked. 

If you wish, you can also pay off the bills using your credit card and therefore transform your medical debt in to a credit card loan. You will have to repay this loan as per its terms and conditions and within the stipulated time limit. You may also use a personal loan to get rid or your medical bills or even take out a medical loan for that matter.  

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5 Steps to Survive a Personal Financial Crisis

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Many people go through a financial crisis at some point in their lives. It could be triggered by a medical emergency, a divorce, loss of job, economic recession, or a natural disaster. A financial crisis is one of the hardest things to deal with. It can emotionally and mentally torment you, and ultimately affect all other aspects of your life. And if you don’t survive, you could end up broke and homeless.

Recovering from a financial crisis can take some time but is definitely possible. Below are the crucial steps to take to survive a personal financial crisis.

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Working Together With Health Care Organizations to Align Compensation with Business Objectives and People Costs

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By Elliot N. Dinkin, President/CEO
Cowden Associates, Inc.

Overview:

Recent economic volatility has taught us several painful lessons regarding the management of costs.  One very important component of this equation involves, if not the most vital of our assets, our people.  As our economy rebounds, it becomes even more important to manage our people with a comprehensive approach to Total Compensation (base pay, incentive opportunities, health benefits and retirement programs).  When faced with difficult decisions, all too often health care organizations focus on one particular facet versus a total analysis.  Although this may result in some short-term benefits, it may ultimately impact Total Compensation in a negative manner.

Health care organizations must respond to many challenges while managing Total Compensation programs including:

  • Escalating benefits and health care costs
  • Financial management constraints
  • Distinct benefit needs (executives, physicians, nurses)
  • Attraction, retention and engagement of all employees
  • Maintaining a competitive total compensation and benefits program

This article focuses on a strategic approach to address people costs by considering each facet of Total Compensation versus making decisions focused only on one area.  Health care organizations are now obligated to consider changes in their compensation programs based on several recent trends including:

  • Reduced staff
  • Commitment to hire non-smokers
  • Recent medical students are choosing primary care fields versus specialty fields
  • Transition of physicians from private practice to full or part-time employment

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How to Correctly Follow the CMS Mandate – Publishing Charges for Customers

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By Brad Olin

As hospitals begin to adjust to the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS) new price transparency mandate, many providers are still concerned about how their patients may perceive their online posted standard charges. 

As everyone is probably aware of by now, as of January 1, 2019, CMS has required all hospitals to post their standard charges online in a machine-readable format. 

Although this mandate was instilled to help create a more patient-centric experience, many providers have focused more on meeting the bare mandate (only posting the list of charges online) rather than going the extra mile by providing a tool for patients to determine their true out-of-pocket costs. 

The key is to present this information simply and clearly to ensure that patients understand the significance of the charge list. Sure, some patients may still have questions about the significance of those standard charges, which is why it’s crucial that patients know who to contact without too much digging around the website. 

In fact, according to a 2018 webinar survey, 57% of the buyer’s journey occurs online before engaging in sales. Pair that with the fact that the average online attention span of customers is only 8 seconds long and now you have a compelling reason to develop an online estimate tool that is engaging, user-friendly, and most importantly, accurate. 

Before a hospital can develop a plan for presenting their standard charges, hospitals need to ensure that they are providing all of the necessary information to the patient. 

In an effort to provide continuous support to the healthcare providers by delivering a patient-centric experience, CMS recently released a FAQ list comprised of items that were added to the CDM list. In this FAQ list, CMS provided further detail on the items that need to be included, such as drugs and biologicals, for each diagnosis-related group (DRG), regardless if a hospital is currently involved in their own state-wide price transparency mandate. If a hospital does not provide all of this information online to the public, they will not be in compliance with the law and are subject to face future penalties.  

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