The North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System has launched an online service to help patients determine the cost of medical services in advance and learn how to get help with paying hospital bills.
The "Financial Help" Web site, accessible from North Shore-LIJ's home page, is designed to help patients understand their hospital bills and estimate the out-of-pocket cost of common inpatient and outpatient medical services provided at North Shore-LIJ facilities across the metropolitan New York area, including 14 hospitals on Long Island, Queens and Staten Island.
The new site also helps patients determine their eligibility for financial assistance, establish affordable interest-free payment plans and arrange for convenient online payments.
"Just like every company that sells a product or service to consumers, hospitals should be able to tell consumers in advance what the cost of their medical services is going to be and the options available to pay for them," said Michael Dowling, president and CEO of North Shore-LIJ.
North Shore-LIJ was the first non-profit health system in New York state to post its hospitals' infection rates on the health system's Web site. It also posts hospital performance information collected by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
North Shore-LIJ's financial assistance program offers financial aid to families earning up to three times the federal poverty level – a program the medical center touts as a model for a 2007 New York state law requiring hospitals to offer reduced-cost coverage for the uninsured.
In 2008, North Shore-LIJ expanded eligibility to families with household incomes up to five times the FPL, equal to $110,250 a year for a family of four. In 2009, the health system's cost of providing care to uninsured and underinsured patients was $122 million.
"We have dedicated programs in place to help uninsured and underinsured patients reduce their out-of-pocket costs and obtain clear and current information about the affordable payment plans we offer," said Robert Shapiro, North Shore-LIJ's chief financial officer.
North Shore-LIJ is the third largest, non-profit, secular healthcare system in the United States. It consists of 14 hospitals, 17 long-term care facilities and multiple outpatient centers.