A Cleveland woman has in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court to prevent the Cleveland Clinic from charging copays before office visits, diagnostic tests and procedures. Cassandra McDonald, who spoke exclusively with 海角破解版 on Monday, filed the claim May 16.
The Cleveland Clinic announced last week that appointments will be rescheduled or canceled for patients who can't make their copay at the time of their non-emergency visit. The policy was intended to take effect June 1.
McDonald, who is a law and policy analyst, argued in the court filing that the policy change is a violation of Ohio public policy and discriminatory practices, because state public policy favors equitable access to health care and prohibits discriminatory practices that disproportionately impact low-income individuals and medically underserved populations. This policy would require lower income patients who could not pay up front to have delayed medical interventions and instead have to visit emergency rooms, the filing stated.
McDonald, who is also a cancer patient at the Cleveland Clinic, said the policy would result in delayed diagnoses.
"That means not treating potential life-threatening illnesses immediately. A lot of time, when you go to clinical appointments, you don't go in there with the expectation that necessarily something is wrong," she said. "So if we're going to negate clinical office visits, we're going to miss those opportunities to potentially save people's lives."
When Ideastream reached out to the Cleveland Clinic, they were not aware that a lawsuit had been filed. McDonald said the hospital system would be served with the court papers May 19.
The new policy also violates Ohio Revised Code 4731.22, which requires a 30-day notice before changes that affect patient access to care are made, according to the claim. The Cleveland Clinic's change to its copay policy was announced May 13, giving patients an 18-day notice before the June 1 effective date. Doing so "places financially vulnerable patients at immediate risk," the filing said.
The final count of the filing argued that the Cleveland Clinic, as a nonprofit hospital, should focus more on community benefits in exchange for its tax-exempt status, as required under the federal tax code.
"It does raise an eyebrow to why a 501(c)(3) charitable organization is turning away patients for not being able to pay their copays," McDonald said, adding that patients should make their copay if they are able, but the Cleveland Clinic and patients should find a compromise if a patient is unable to pay everything at the time of a visit.
"Both patients and the Clinic should come up with better ways... That's the best thing we can do for some of us in this economy," McDonald said.
In addition to a temporary injunction and restraining order preventing enforcement of the new policy, McDonald is seeking suspension of policy enforcement until compliance with the court order can be reviewed. She is also asking that patients who cannot afford their copays have the opportunity to participate in financial hardship programs offered by the Cleveland Clinic, with mediation to resolve any disputes where necessary.
