Akron Children’s (Children’s) is committed to providing quality care to the patients we serve, whether or not they are able to pay. Children’s complies with the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA), and the Joint Commission requirements to provide emergency medical treatment without regard to a person’s financial circumstances or whether they may qualify for aid under our Financial Assistance Policy. In addition, Children’s will not discourage people asking for emergency medical treatment and medically necessary care by requiring payment before treatment or allowing debt collection activities that restrict us from providing emergency medical care.
Children’s offers a strong Financial Counseling Program to help families apply for third-party coverage from commercial insurance companies, Medicaid, and other state and local programs. If insurance coverage is not available, Financial Counseling will help families find other financial help they may be eligible to receive. For patients who have too little or no insurance, financial assistance is granted based on the family’s size (number of people), income (how much money they earn) and residence (if they live in Ohio). Financial assistance is offered only after all other available third-party resources have been used or if the patient is not eligible for any third-party benefits.
Patients may be eligible for the Hospital Care Assurance Program (HCAP/Free Care) Program if they are a resident of Ohio, have gross income at or below the federal poverty level, and are not a Medicaid recipient.
If we find that patients are eligible for HCAP or Medicaid, we will ask families to apply for those programs before we consider them for Children’s charity care program. If families are not eligible for Medicaid or HCAP, they may be eligible for Children’s Charity Care Program. Families with gross income that is at or below 400% of the federal poverty level income guidelines may be eligible for charity care. Any exceptions made for patients who have household income above 400% of the federal poverty level will be reviewed and approved by the Financial Assistance Committee, which is chaired by the Chief Financial Officer and Chief Medical Officer. Appeals may be made online or through Financial Counseling. If you would like to appeal, please click on the link below and email Financial Counseling. Be sure to include name, contact information as well as patient MRN.
Patients eligible for financial assistance will not be charged more for emergency or other medically necessary care than amounts generally billed to those patients who have insurance.
The Financial Assistance Application, Financial Assistance Policy and this Plain Language Summary are available in different languages.
To apply, you must provide documentation to verify any information that may affect your eligibility, including information regarding your place of residence and income.
If you do not pay your bills, we may place your account with a collection agency and could result in credit reporting of the unpaid debt, legal judgments, wage garnishments, bank account garnishments or liens placed against personal property.
Akron Children’s Charity Care/Financial Assistance Policy will include/recognize balances for patient care services provided by the Hospital and any Hospital-employed providers, including Anesthesia and Akron Children’s-owned transport services.
Although Akron Children’s credentials/approves providers who are not employed by Akron Children’s to see patients at our Hospital locations, the services received from those providers are not covered by the Hospital’s Financial Assistance policy. Attached is a list of providers whose fees are excluded from Akron Children’s Financial Assistance policy.
