A report from a union representing more than 15,000 healthcare workers alleges that most of Oregon's 10 largest health systems have "set up roadblocks to accessing financial assistance programs and are currently out of compliance with Oregon law."
A 2019 Oregon law requires nonprofit hospitals to provide complete bill forgiveness to patients earning up to 200 percent of the federal poverty line and some forgiveness to those earning up to 400 percent of the federal poverty line, according to the October report from SEIU Local 49. The law also requires that financial assistance be made available to patients who receive care at hospital-owned clinics as well as financial assistance screening of patients before they are sent to collections.
In the report, SEIU Local 49 said it identified 10 of the state's largest health systems and reviewed publicly available documents related to financial assistance that the systems are mandated to provide, including full financial assistance policies, plain language summaries, application forms and related website text. Through its review, SEIU set out to "understand to what extent these documents were in compliance with legal requirements."
SEIU found that the Oregon systems are making financial information assistance difficult for patients to find and understand. The systems are also placing restrictions on which patients or services qualify for financial assistance beyond those allowed by law. The systems are also allegedly demanding patients complete detailed applications, despite having the information to determine eligibility, and are aggressively sending patients to collections "well before their window to apply for financial assistance has closed."
Oregon Association of Hospitals and Health Systems president and CEO Becky Hultberg pushed back against the report, telling the Portland Business Journal that it "provides a limited and incomplete picture of hospital financial assistance practices."