By Michelle Wirth
Atlanta, GA – A new policy that started this week at Grady Memorial Hospital requires uninsured out-of-county patients to pay for non-emergency services up-front. Experts say the policy could force more into clinics and emergency rooms throughout the metro area.
Grady officials say approximately ten percent of its more than 500,000 patient visits are from outside Fulton and DeKalb counties. Officials say of that number, Gwinnett, Clayton and Cobb counties account for the highest numbers of out-of-county patients.
Georgia Hospital Association spokesman Kevin Bloye says when faced with paying for non-emergency services in advance, those patients might seek care closer to home.
“I’m sure you will have more hospitals in those areas that will receive more of those patients, and it will continue to strain the system.”
Bloye says hospital emergency rooms are already facing a growing number of uninsured patients. He says currently nearly two million Georgians lack insurance.
“Without access to a primary care physician, they end up going to the hospital emergency room, which often times is the most costliest setting, but it’s also the setting they have the most access to and they know they will receive treatment.”
Other health care experts say the patients might turn to Federally Qualified Health Centers as alternatives. The centers receive federal funding and use a sliding fee scale to help those in need. Karen Minyard heads the Georgia Health Policy Center at Georgia State University.
“Most of them have good care management capabilities, so they can do these kind of things that people need.”
Minyard also says patients can access free clinics. But she says both of those options could prove challenging.
“If you’re used to going somewhere, and that’s where you’re comfortable, and now
you can’t afford to go somewhere, you have to look at other options, you have to figure out the transportation, you have to understand the financial ramifications. They might not be able to find exactly what they need or want.”
She also says those providers might not be geographically convenient for patients or have enough room due to the rising number of uninsured. Grady officials say the patients will be given information about options in their communities. They say the policy was enacted because every year the hospital spends approximately $25 million dollars on out-of-county patients that it never recovers.
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