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Apr 08, 2008 -- Hospitals running credit checks before treatment
Should you list your Social Security number on a medical form? Clark does not. Medical record numbers have replaced Social Security number on insurance cards in an effort to stop ID theft. Why would you open yourself up to it again?
A Wall Street Journal reporter recently found that some hospitals now require Social Security numbers at registration. The facilities then quietly run your credit using an outside source that gives a proprietary rating to gauge your likelihood to pay for service. Some hospitals are even turning away urgent but non-emergency patients deemed to be credit risks. Unfortunately, many hospitals doing this are non-profit facilities that have a duty and mission to provide care to those who can't pay. So they get non-profit status, but they ignore their core values.
Your credit can help or hurt you in so many ways. Think about this: Clark recently froze his credit. Does that mean he might be temporarily denied service until his records can be thawed?
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What others are saying
SSN
Just as an FYI. Hospitals, clinics or physician offices may not refuse services to anyone based on whether a patient wants to provide their SSN. If you look up HIPAA it clearly states that.
I know I may get a lot of slack for this, but come on people. A hospital is a business just like any other. If money is going out the door and nothing is coming in guess what happens? Whether your for profit or not for profit has no bearing on the fact that to provide a service there is an expense. Who should pay forthat expense? Most hospitals write off millions of dollars to charity care for people that do not really need charity care. many of hospitals are forced to write off millions of dollars to bad debt, because people refuse to own their debt.
What if this hospital was your company and you continually provided a service to people and did not get paid. How long would you be able to stay in business.
Furthermore, when a hospital closes their doors because they can no longer operate due to financial circumstances, who suffers? The community that no longer has a healthcare facility to go to. So should hospitals run credit checks just as any other business YES! they need to get paid too
Laziness
Simply put, it's sheer laziness by clerks who are afraid they may get another patient of the same name as another, so it's easier to use the ssn. This is a security risk, a bullsh*t policy, and anyone who says otherwise is brainwashed. 3/4 of the planet does NOT use the ssn for anything other than wages & related uses. They have MUCH lower ID theft. I was refused both dental & medical care because I refuse to give my ssn. When I find a legal way to fight this, I'll bury every practice that doesn't change their policy!
Emergency medical care
Clark, the comment regarding hospitals turning people away for non-emergent but urgent care is misleading. While it is true that many hospitals receive state money to agree to care for the uninsured, what isn't known is that this funding lasts approximately 3-4 months of a fiscal year. The emergency room should be for emergencies. This type of rhetoric is misleading. My husband is an ER doctor and they medically screen adults prior to treatment. If it is deemed a non-emergency the patient can still be seen, they just have to pay their co-pay or $150.00 prior to service. You would be shocked at the number of people that don't want to pay the $5.00 co-pay. Where is Solomon when we need him! :)
Healthcare for the uninsured
Hospitals refuse care for the uninsured by stating that "no care is needed" when it is a life threatening situation. A friend of mine is uninsured and a doctor told him that he might die at any time if he didn't get emergency surgery. The doctor set up the surgery in the emergency room and alerted all the docs regarding his arrival. My friend waited a few hours before going because his condition meant that he might die during surgery. Anyway, he reported to that same emergency room and the head jerk from the ER "Nurse Cratchet from the Cookoos Nest" refused treatment due to no health insurance. She lied and used the excuse that "NO TREATMENT IS NECESSARY." So, be warned, that if you don't have heath insurance, and are within possible hours of living or dying, the ER might just say "no treatment necessary" and leave you to the luck of the lottery. I was shocked.
So what can you do?
I agree that this is awful, but what are my options besides shopping around for hospital after hospital... and even then my doc may not be affiliated with the hopitsal I choose? Can I just refuse to give them my SSN??
Time for a change
The market place has not solved the health care crisis. Our health care system is slowly becoming a system for the wealthy only. Now your credit status is going to determine if you get treated by the hospital or not.... Outrageous... Aren't we obliged to take care of our fellow citizens? BTW: Medical bills should never be the reason for a bankruptcy.
gov needs to stay out of health care
our public schools are a mess and so will healthcare be a mess if gov. gets involved. i read medical horror stories about universal health care in other countries. you should check out the u.s. va hospitals(my husband was a patient),you will see how inept us gov. is. i donot want universal health care; more government control is not what americans need. "americans have taken care of themselves for years and that is what our country is about".
Hospitals Running Credit Checks - Agree 100%
LJ,
I couldn't have said it better myself. I've often thought about claiming to be an illegal alien next time I have to visit the ER. I would probably get seen faster and have no paperwork / bills to deal with!
Scott C
One more reason for universal coverage
The sad story about doctors and their unbillable hours made me chuckle. Welcome to the world of entrepreneurs! Unbillable hours, uncollected accounts, insurance cost, all go into the category of "overhead" and the doctor or hospital recoups the expense. From the rest of us. Maybe you should all study the idea of nationalized health care again, put aside political bias, really study how it works (or doesn't) in other countries. Or wait until it's your turn to be denied as the result of making late payments on your car.
SSN use by Hospitals & Insurance Companies
I haven't been known by my SSN by any insurance company or hospital for nearly 30 years because I simply refuse to give it to anyone who isn't paying me a wage, salary or interest. In this day and age of ID theft it is even more important to protect your SSN like it is your virginity. Once given up, you can't get it back. Therefore, keep it to yourself. They can't lose or abuse what they don't have!
Hospitals Running Credit Checks
The solution here is for everybody to just claim that they are illegal aliens, don't have a SS#, and demand the same free treatment that the hospitals are required to give to all illegal aliens. Then, when all our hospitals go bankrupt from people not paying, the deadbeats we vote into office will do something to get the illegal aliens out of the system and the fraud out of the system. A large portion of all insurance premiums (home/auto/medical) is to offset fraud. For every Doctor barely getting by, there are 3 others who greedily soak & gouge the system with phony charges. I'm tired of being gouged, and having to pay extra so that illegals and deadbeats can have stuff for free.
Insurance in general
If you aren't in the medical field you may not understand. People are still under the assumption that doctors are rich and simply don't or won't pay their bills. Most doctors write off .40-.50 cents of every dollar billed because of insurance contracts. Malpractice insurance premiums are putting doctors out of business. Frivilous lawsuits cost them thousands. Did you know your doctor has to pay a deductible for every lawsuit filed whether it goes to trial or not? The deductibles are 5000.00 and up. Most doctors end each day with at least 2-3 hours of paperwork and phone calls that are not reimbursed by anyone. Do you want to work for free? Most offices now collect copays upfront because of the miriad of excuses that are given at the checkout counter. We know if we don't get it while you are there we probably won't get it. How would you feel if your boss told you on payday that he forgot his checkbook. How about trying to buy groceries... go to the checkout and tell them that you forgot your checkbook and you will mail them your money ! When you are complaining about credit checks and wondering why they do it. So far in the last six months I have turned over 400,000 in unpaid bills to collection agencies, but we are forced to see these same patients over and over again. We can be sued if we don't. My doc is on call 24 hours a day-7 days a week and after expenses makes about 130,000 a year. Sound cushy to you?
spectera vision (state merit georgia)
uses ss# for member number, so to receive your vision benefits you must give out ss#.
SSN for ins. policy number
My son's health ins. with Aetna uses his SSN as policy number. This is new coverage as of 030108.
Outrageous
It sucks! I went to a ER at a Florida hospital and when I went to check my credit report two months later, I saw that they did an inquiry. What next, signing in blood?! Give me a break!
