New Hanover Regional Medical Center, which officially became part of Novant Health Feb. 1, will no longer offer patients a prompt pay discount, according to local news station WECT.
Wilmington, N.C.-based New Hanover Regional offered a 25 percent discount to patients who paid before a visit or at the time of service.
New Hanover Regional said that it discontinued the discount after aligning itself with Winston-Salem, N.C.-based Novant Health, but said it had been considering removing it for a while.
"As part of aligning our financial policies and procedures [with Novant Health], NHRMC is sunsetting the prompt pay discount," New Hanover spokesperson Julian March told WECT. "The vast majority of those who used it had insurance. Applying a prompt pay discount for patients with insurance is very rare in the healthcare industry, and NHRMC had already been considering removing it."
A Novant Health spokesperson told Becker's Hospital Review it will honor the prompt pay discount for patients who received an estimate for services scheduled before Feb. 1.
Additionally, New Hanover patients will benefit from Novant's more robust financial assistance program, the Novant spokesperson said. The financial assistance program provides free or reduced care to uninsured patients who have a household income of up to 300 percent of the federal poverty level.
"Moving forward, NHRMC patients will benefit from Novant Health's robust charity care and financial assistance program, which is one of the most generous in North Carolina. This policy is a cornerstone of Novant Health's culture and is an essential element in allowing us to provide remarkable healthcare to all members of our communities, regardless of their ability to pay," Novant said.