Understanding Hospital Charge Information
The amount a hospital bills for a patient’s care is known as the “charge.” This is not the same as the actual cost or amount paid for the care. The amount collected by a hospital for each service is almost always less than the amount billed. Contacting our Financial Counselor will allow you to get a more accurate estimate of what you will have to pay for services.
Because each case is different based on the patient’s medical condition, a given patient’s charge amount will not necessarily be the same as another patient. If two patients have the same service or procedure but one is healthy, and one has a chronic illness, it is likely that the patient with the chronic illness would need more intensive care thus creating a bill with higher charges than the healthy patient’s bill.
The amount you are responsible for also depends on your insurance coverage. We negotiate discounted rates with insurance companies and if yours is in network, with our hospital, you will be responsible for a lower amount than someone with out of network coverage or no insurance.
Patients with no insurance or with financial difficulty, may receive discounted rates based on their income. Our Financial Counselor will work with you to determine those discounts.
**Please Note:
Your personal physician or other physicians providing you with services related to, or during, your hospital stay, or visit will bill you separately. This can include fees related to specialists, anesthesiologists, pathologists, surgeons and radiologists.
Independent laboratory and radiology services will also bill you separately for reading and interpreting EKG's, X-rays, EEG's and lab work.