IHC announces changes in billing practices

Intermountain Health Care is changing its billing practices to "enhance its charity processes" and make accessing care easier for qualified families, according to its chief financial officer.

Besides taking more proactive steps to help uninsured and underinsured Utahns arrange for charity care "at the front end" before receiving services, IHC won't use court proceedings to collect unpaid bills unless there's evidence of fraud or simple unwillingness to pay, said Bert Zimmerli, senior vice president and chief financial officer. That would include, for instance, someone who received a payment directly from a health insurance company but did not use it to pay the incurred medical bill as intended.

The changes announced Wednesday are being applauded by some lawmakers who were especially critical of IHC practices during the last legislative session, where at least two bills were introduced that would have forced change to the health care industry in Utah. While neither measure passed, some viewed the ensuing controversy as a "wake up call" to IHC, which dominates health care in Utah.

In the planned changes, IHC is reducing the interest it charges on extended-payment accounts from 14.5 percent to no more than 8 percent. Patients with documented need and financial difficulty may be able to set up zero-interest payment plans.

And both an ombudsman position and citizen-input panels will be created as well, Zimmerli said.

"What we're dealing with here is reaction to specific issues, but really to national problems," he said. First, millions of Americans — and plenty of Utahns — are underinsured or uninsured. Added to that, the rising cost of health care, from improved but expensive technologies to proliferation of new drugs and treatments, "some of the them incredibly expensive," have helped drive up costs at the same time fewer employers are offering health care benefits.

"What we really need is a national debate and national solutions," said Zimmerli, "but we don't have that now."

Last August, IHC announced that people with incomes up to 150 percent of the federal poverty line with inadequate or no insurance could qualify for complete charity care from IHC. The assets of those up to twice the poverty guideline would not be considered in determining whether they qualify for charity care. And those at 200-500 percent of poverty could qualify for charity care on a sliding fee scale, based on both income and the size of the medical bill, existing debt, etc.