Oregon Hospitals to Provide Free Care to Families in Need Through New Policy Package
Tuesday, March 17, 2015
The two-part package aims to demonstrates hospitals' commitment to the communities they serve at a time when the Affordable Care Act is changing the health care landscape in Oregon, according to OAHHS.
The first initiative will provide free care for families who are not Medicaid eligible, and whose income is below 200 percent of the federal poverty level. Approximately 87,000 Oregonians fall into this category, and providing them with free hospital care builds on the success of Medicaid expansion, which covers people below 139 percent of the federal poverty level, according to OAHHS.
The second initiative involves hospitals keeping overall community benefit spending at or above levels from prior years. In Oregon, "community benefit" is defined as health care-related services that nonprofit hospitals provide without the expectation of compensation. While free care for patients who cannot pay is dropping statewide as a result of record numbers of Oregonians obtaining insurance through the Affordable Care Act, the Oregon Association of Hospitals has committed to keep community benefit spending levels equal to years past. This will allow hospitals to reinvest those dollars in other community benefit activities, according to OAHHS.
"Oregon's hospitals are leading the way by enacting a set of initiatives voluntarily that seek to close the coverage gap for the shrinking percentage of uninsured and underinsured, while maintaining their significant investments in their communities and in the people they serve 24/7/365," said Andy Davidson, President and CEO of OAHHS. "Hospital and health system leaders in Oregon are proud to play such a vital role at this pivotal time in our state's health care transformation."
In 2013 Oregon hospitals provided more than $1.9 billion in community benefit contributions to their communities, while providing care for 336,153 inpatients, more than 9.9 million outpatients, and more than 1.2 million emergency room visits, according to OAHHS.
More information about Oregon's community benefit reporting program can be found online at MyOregonHospital.org.
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