By Tara Bannow – Modern Healthcare With uncompensated care growing alongside the prevalence of high-deductible plans, providers are looking for ways to collect on unpaid bills. Piedmont Health is requiring patients who will responsible for their...
More infoPiedmont’s new payment plan: 25% upfront for some patients
By Andy Miller – Georgia Health News Piedmont Healthcare is requiring patients who shoulder the entire cost of a non-emergency medical service to pay 25 percent of the bill before they get the care. The system’s new upfront-payment policy was...
More infoGeorgia moves up in key rating of hospital safety
By Andy Miller – Georgia Health News More than one-third of Georgia hospitals scored an “A’’ in the latest safety ratings by the Leapfrog Group. That puts Georgia No. 15 among states for its percentage of hospitals getting an “A’’ from Leapfrog, up...
More infoGeorgia Making Significant Strides in Hospital Safety
Atlanta, Georgia—May 15, 2019 – The Leapfrog Group, a national nonprofit aiming to improve health care quality for consumers, employers and purchasers, announced today the fall 2018 Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grades. Georgia ranks 15th in the nation for...
More infoMEDICAL EMERGENCY: Patients say they’re stunned by massive bills
By WSB-TV (Watch now) It’s a story that has become more and more common: getting a medical bill that is much larger than expected. Channel 2 consumer adviser Clark Howard talked to two Georgians who said they almost needed medical attention when...
More infoGot a surprise medical bill in the mail? Here’s how to deal with it
By WSB-TV It is a problem thousands of Georgians have faced after they visit a hospital or medical provider – being slammed with a high or unexpected medical bill. That leaves consumers on the hook for hundreds or even thousands of dollars. According to...
More infoGeorgia health care legislation left some gaps in 2019
By Ariel Hart – The Atlanta Journal-Constitution The Legislature did a lot on health care this session. But it left some things undone. Maybe they were overshadowed, legislators said, or maybe they’re just tough issues. Powerful interest groups are...
More infoPush For Hospital Transparency In Georgia Gets New Energy, Platform
By Andy Miller – Georgia Health News This year’s legislative fight over Georgia’s certificate-of-need system is different from those in the past, which focused almost entirely on typical CON battles over hospital building projects or authorization of...
More infoGeorgia Watch: Guide for Medical Bills and Debt
According to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, more than half of collection items on credit reports are for medical debt. The consumer advocates at Georgia Watch have a guide to give people strategies in paying large medical bills and avoiding...
More infoGeorgia House panel passes Kemp’s health insurance ‘waiver’ bill
Gov. Brian Kemp’s proposal to devise health care “waiver” programs that might ease insurance for some poor and middle-class Georgians passed a special House committee on Wednesday. The measure, Senate Bill 106, has already passed the state Senate. Its next...
More infoAmericans Are Going Bankrupt From Getting Sick
In April 2016, Venus Lockett was about to give a speech at an event she volunteered for near her home in Atlanta. She was already stressed. The previous night, she had stayed up late making her presentation, and then deleted it by mistake. As she stepped...
More infoBetter Call Harry: Helicopter bill threatens family’s finances
DAWSONVILLE, GA (CBS46) After Better Call Harry helped save a Griffin family more than $24,000 on an air ambulance bill, he received a plea from a Dawsonville family. They owed the same air ambulance company more than $30,000 after insurance paid a...
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