Why Hospitals Want You To Pay Upfront

摘要

Melody Rempe spends much of her day telling people who are about to go into the hospital how much they'll have to pay. As a patient financial counselor at Nebraska Methodist Health System, she calls patients about a week before they go in for procedures with estimates of their bills and what portion insurance will cover. Although many are grateful, some cry or yell. "Sometimes you're talking to them about the biggest thing in their life," she says. Rempe says most calls end well when she walks patients through the hospital's payment-plan options or other financial assistance.