Cleveland Clinic scales back charity care

The Cleveland Clinic announced Friday that, beginning Jan. 1, it will routinely deny charity care for patients living outside a 150-mile radius of the hospital (Source: “Cleveland Clinic to cut charity care for those who live more than 150 miles from the city,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, Dec. 4, 2010).

Hospital officials cited the continued struggling economy in explaining the decision, saying that the hospital has experienced an increase in the need for charity care in recent years and an increase in insured patients who have not paid their share of medical bills.

Meanwhile, hospital systems in Central Ohio have no plans to change their policies for providing charity care (Source: “Columbus hospitals retain charity care,” Columbus Dispatch, Dec. 7, 2010).

In fact, hospitals in the Columbus area report that they have seen in decrease in charity care. According to federal tax forms, the four hospital systems serving Central Ohio provided $8.8 million less in free care in fiscal year 2009 than the previous year.