Check out this resource:

http://www.lsnjlaw.org/Publications/Pages/Manuals/CharityCare.pdf

And it looks like you might have already found this, but just in case:

http://www.state.nj.us/health/charitycare/

In terms of your questions.... The medical record is separate from billing. Your medical record is the thing that shows every point of contact, various notes, procedure orders, procedure outcomes, etc. The itemized bill should be a translation of that record into billing codes related to each of those procedures, medications, etc.

There's an office in JCMC that handles the medical record requests. Not sure exactly where, but I definitely got an envelope of copies from an office located physically in the building (that could have changed over time). I assume you would get the itemized bill from the billing office.

The only person who I remember her name is Millie, who was at the desk in the JCMC charity care office (there was a small office located in JCMC...not sure if still there...but she reviewed the general process with me, gave me forms, and then directed me to the Garfield Ave office). I remember her bc she also worked at the H&R Block on Newark Ave. Not sure if she's still around though.

In general, my advise is just to be nice, friendly, pleasant, etc. and express that you are willing to work with them. They are just doing their jobs, so no sense in taking out any frustration on them.

Question... When you say 'accidents' what do you mean? If either visit was the result of a car or work related accident, you should be going through auto insurance or worker's comp (I think).

had to go over to JCMC last year (around november maybe?) for my husband. Some how all the paperwork got messed up and even though we have insurance it didn't get listed....

Charity care showed up at my door about a month later (only about 3 days after I got the bill in the mail and before I could even call to have my insurance added on) trying to make a payment plan up for me

I am surprised they haven't contacted you yet

Given how expensive hospital visits are, I think charity care is important. I asked a doctor why people dislike the concept of charity care and he gave an unusual response. He said it's because people do not want to pay tax money on homeless, jobless, substance abusers who wholly depend on charity care to get medical help. And that society does not like the kind of people who apply for charity care. I didn't know this.

I'm from Italy and hospital bills are not confusing and expensive like they are here in America. But they also do not have a lot of financial help or payment options available like they do here in America. I am grateful that many people (including poor, homeless) as well are able to get medical & financial assistance they need.

I am more angry at insurance who said they will cover me but now with my leave of absence, are not covering me. Next, I am angry at the hospital for expensive bills.

Quote:

Honestly - aside from most doctors and nurses - I think it's a sharkfest top to bottom. It's been funded in a large part through public ignorance - platinum healthcare plans for public employees - and private sector employees who don't care until the s*%t hits the fan. Big Pharma makes huge monopoly profits, care providers write themselves blank checks, lawyers make fortunes of malpractice suits and insurers have used Obamacare as an excuse to jack up premiums and deductibles. And there's little to no safety net for those that can't afford to pay.

Not sure what's the right answer - but it deserves the same kind of scrutiny given to Wall St in recent years.

Kelcey!

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for such a detailed response & all your advice. Since you went to JCMC as well, do you mind answering a few questions in regards to your response? I called up JCMC after reading your response with the following questions & they told me to consult their charity care office for responses.

1.Is there a difference between complete medical record and the itemized bill? If yes, then how so?

2.Where did you get both these records from? Except for bills (stating only I owe X amount), I have gotten nothing else in mail, email or the JCMC online account).

3.Where can I request my complete medical record and itemized bill from?

4.Do you know any particularly helpful people at the charity care center that I should go to? Or any people I should avoid?

5.Where did you find out about your rights? Any online info, resources, people, departments that you used during your experience?

You're right about the separate bills. I have gotten 2 separate bills with just the amount owed and nothing else on there. A total of 4 bills for my 2 accidents requiring ER care.

Please please please share whatever you might feel will be helpful to me. I feel ill-equipped & scared in fighting persistently for my case. But I'm going to listen to your advice & do everything step by step at a time. Gather all my documents, study my rights, read & understand as much as I can before the beginning of the real work (dealing with different people, being shuffled around etc).

Once again, thank you so much Kelcey! I appreciate this a lot.

I have bittersweet feelings on the concept of charity care.

Yes, I feel its our moral obligation to help those in such emergency circumstances that may not afford and should never ever be turned away.

At the same time, there is something definitely wrong with our medical system when ER visits can end up being in the thousands or tens of thousands of dollars....

If the hospitals didn't charge such a grossly inflated amount and were better able to control costs, people like Elissa22 may not possibly need charity care. This entire process is circular. Also, I can just imagine how much money must be wasted administrating charity care office and process where if costs were a lot lower, they may not need such help.

Curious what people think on this topic.

It's been many years (2007-2008 between the stay and resolving the bill--16 months altogether), but I had a very positive experience with them.

I was in JCMC with grad student health insurance for 9 days ($65K, not including the doctors who bill separately). That particular year, I was the sole source of income between my husband and myself ($18K/year grad stipend). My part of the bill was $12k after insurance. LOLOLOLOL

I had to gather up my banking account statements as of the date of admittance as well as paystubs. I also read as much as I could about NJ charity care. And apparently knew more than the folks in that office.

My husband happened to have gotten one paycheck for $1K the week I went into the hospital (mid April)--literally the first money he had earned since early July the year before. They first were like "ok, multiply that by 52 and we estimate that he makes $52K a year." Fortunately, I'd read the law (not sure if it's changed) and knew they had to look at three methods to estimate income and take the lowest (which still overestimated for us, but was much, much closer).

First, I recommend getting a copy of your medical record. Mine was full of complete bullshit, which I assume had to do with them trying to justify a nine day stay (e.g., the admitting letter says that I was basically bleeding from every orifice...whaaa?!?!).

Second, I recommend getting an itemized copy of the bill. Not the "you owe $X" but the line by line charges.

Third, I recommend comparing your medical record against the itemized bill. I found thousands of dollars of charges for procedures that had not been ordered or done. I brought these to the attention of both my insurer and the billing office. Insurance went ahead and paid their part of the whole bill (#OOPS# them for making it harder for me to dispute!). Billing office saw my annotated copy of the medical record ("exhibit A", etc) and were like "hmmm....your copy of the medical record doesn't look like ours." To which I said, "If you changed my medical record in response to me bringing the errors to your attention you have violated so many laws..." "Yeah, we're going to go with what you have." The billing office ended up subtracting the cost of the procedures from my bill (i.e., not reimbursing the insurance company...I don't care, bc #OOPS# them!). I was sent a handwritten note (not dated or signed) that said my new balance was $5K and to see the charity care office. No joke. Seriously bizarre.

Fourth, go see them in person. The charity care office folks were very pleasant, but it pays to be educated about your rights, the law, etc. You will have to show them your income and assets. I also got letters from both of our graduate schools confirming our full time attendance, any employment, etc. My situation was fairly unusual (e.g., that pesky paycheck my husband got). They didn't really know what to do so eventually said "we're just going to make your husband unemployed and then you'll qualify for full coverage." I was literally prepared to write a check from the student loan I'd just received and thought we'd end up owing $3K. They just ended up erasing the whole thing.

Of course, someone forgot to hit the enter button or something. So I got a collections notice many months later (after receiving no other communication). I just went back in and showed the manager (who'd approved the whole thing) her signed card thingy that showed the final outcome of my case. She took care of it, and it's been totally clear ever since.

tl; dr: The hospital billing and charity care office are staffed with generally nice folks who commit fraud left and right. Know your rights. Know the law. Advocate for yourself. When all else fails, work out a payment plan to avoid having your visit destroy your credit. Also, be prepared to get separate bills for the nursing staff and doctors.

This says, applicants have upto 1 year from date of service to apply for charity care. Still, I would love to hear from other people how much charity care covered etc.

http://www.state.nj.us/health/charity ... ritycare_factsheet_en.pdf

Has anyone dealt with charity care office (financial counseling office) located at 953 Garfield Ave? Did they help you out with the bill?

I have 2 emergency medical bills from JCMC. I was under the impression my school's health insurance which is valid till August 2015 will take care of most of the bill. Turns out it will NOT cover it as I am not taking any classes this semester. Now that I can walk again, it's time for me to go to the financial counseling center to submit some documents. However, I see a hand written note that says submit documents within 10 days of service.

Is it too late for me to get any aid from the financial counseling center of JCMC?

I will call them tomorrow as well, but I wanted to find out if anyone had any experiences with them.