Baptist Health: Committed to Providing Top-Quality Health Care to Our Community
As a faith-based, not-for-profit healthcare organization, providing health care free of charge to the needy has been an integral part of Baptist Health’s mission throughout our 46 years in South Florida.
Neither state nor federal laws mandate a level of charity care, but Baptist Health is deeply committed to providing compassionate, high-quality care to insured and uninsured patients alike. One of the guiding principles of Baptist Health is to never refuse care to an uninsured resident of our community who is unable to pay. We believe Baptist Health’s charity care policy is a model in the industry.
Charity care means providing free services to uninsured patients who do not have the means to pay. When we provide charity care, we know from the outset we will not receive any payment and agree to treat the patient for free. This differs from uncompensated care, which refers to a patient who has the ability but refuses to pay and leaves us with a bad debt. A third type of non-reimbursed health care is Medicaid shortfalls, the difference between what the State of Florida pays us and our charges.
In 2005, Baptist Health provided almost $378 million in free care overall: more than $112 million in charity care, $251 million in uncompensated care and Medicaid shortfalls, and a $15 million contribution to Florida’s indigent care program. In addition, we provided hundreds of free or low cost screenings, health education programs and information.
The need for providing charity care is growing as the number of uninsured, low-income residents grows. In Miami-Dade County, nearly 30 percent of residents under age 65 do not have health insurance; in Monroe County, 21 percent are uninsured.
As Florida’s uninsured health crisis has worsened, we have amplified our efforts both to provide charity care to those who need it and to make the public aware of this assistance through community outreach efforts, advertising and information given to our patients.
The State of Florida defines charity care as free care given to people with household incomes up to twice the poverty level. We don’t stop there. We provide free health care to people with household incomes up to three times (300 percent) the federal poverty level. For example, for a family of four, the poverty level is $20,000 a year, so a family with a household income of up to $60,000 would qualify for charity care.
The Baptist Health charity care program is run under the auspices of the Pastoral Care Department, and our Financial Assistance Program. Charity care is provided to patients whose income exceeds 300 percent of the poverty level in special cases of hardship, with a sliding scale of discounts.
The amount of charity care provided varies with each Baptist Health’s hospital location and the economics of its service area. Homestead Hospital, for instance, provides 8 percent of its services free to uninsured patients, the highest percentage of any non-public hospital in Miami-Dade County. Mariners Hospital provides about 7 percent of its services as charity care. Both hospitals are located in areas where part-time or seasonal workers may not have access to health insurance.
In addition to our five hospitals and neighborhood-based outpatient centers, we work hand-in-hand with other organizations and with our doctors to provide free care through three community-based primary care clinics: the Open Door Health Center in Homestead, the Good News Care Center in Florida City and the Good Health Clinic in Tavernier. In 2006, we will partner with other groups to open a free clinic for children in South Miami.
Our collection practices are reasonable and compassionate. We offer interest-free installment payment plans and discounts to self-pay patients. We rarely file suit against individuals and do not garnish wages.
Our charity care policy reflects our desire to give back generously to the community we serve. We cannot unilaterally solve the health insurance crisis, but we remain true to our mission to deliver top-quality health care to those in need of our services, regardless of their financial status.