Who Pays When the Uninsured Go to the Hospital?

If someone is badly sick or injured, they usually go to the hospital. A hospital visit is expensive but often insurance will cover most of it. If a person doesn't have insurance, there are alternate ways to cover the bill.

How The Hospital Bill Gets Paid

• Most hospitals have charity care that picks up a portion or all of the tab. Everyone who is uninsured is eligible to apply for charity care. If it is an elder person, chances are they are on Medicaid. If the person is sick and disabled, Medicare, which is another government program picks up the tab. Provided that none of these are an option, the person may pay the bill themselves in a payment plan or in its entirety.

How To Receive Charity Care or Medicaid

• Contact the billing department or a social worker in the hospital to get an application for charity care. Provide any necessary paperwork, including bank statements and any kind of assets. If you need to go on Medicaid, submit bank statements stating you have under a certain number of assets and Medicaid will retroactively cover hospital bills while you are filling out the application process. If you already have Medicaid/Medicare, the bills are usually submitted right to these agencies.

How To Determine The Percentage

• Each hospital and state is different, but the basis of charity care is that the fewer assets an individual has, the higher the chance of receiving charity care, and the higher the percentage of the hospital bill will be paid. When it comes to Medicaid/Medicare, most of the time the bill is covered entirely.