Charity Care

Financial Assistance at Rapides Regional Medical Center

Rapides Regional Medical Center provides financial assistance to patients who need healthcare, but are unable to pay. Patients who are able to pay or buy health insurance will be expected to do so. Patients unable to pay need to follow our procedures to apply for financial assistance or government help. The Board of Directors of Rapides Healthcare System LLC has established these policy guidelines for providing financial assistance (FAP). Assistance is only given to patients receiving medically necessary care.

Financial assistance will be based on financial need and will not be based on age, gender, race, social or immigrant status, sexual orientation or religion. Patients apply for assistance by completing an "Application for Financial Assistance" and by providing all necessary documents to confirm their information. The following levels of financial assistance are available, based on a patient’s annual income compared to Federal Poverty Levels (FPL). In no case will FAP-eligible patients be billed more than the amount paid on bills for patients covered by Medicare, Medicaid or private insurance.

If patients have Medicare, we need a completed Medicare FAP Application and the most current year's Federal Tax Return. If patients don't have that, they can give us two items from the list below.

1. State Income Tax Return for the most current year
2. Supporting W-2
3. Supporting 1099's
4. Most recent bank and broke statement listed in the Federal Tax Return
5. Current credit report
6. Qualified Medicare Benefits (for inpatients only)

For non-Medicare patients we need the completed Charity Discount Application, plus one item from the list below.

1. W-2 withholding forms
2. Most recent employer pay stubs
3. Copies of all bank statements tor last three months
4. Written documentation from income sources, such as-verification of wages from employer, verification from public welfare agencies or any government agency that can tell us the patient's income status for the last 12 months
5. Income tax returns
6. Forms providing or denying employment compensation or Worker's Comp
7. A Medicaid voucher that shows the patient's Medicaid benefits for that fiscal year have been used up.

There may be special circumstances,including but not limited to the patient not being able to complete the FAP Application and/or provide needed documentation, where the patient's bill is a significant percent of his annual income, homeless patients, or patients who die. In these or other cases, a manager can make the decision to grant financial assistance.

Patients who qualify for financial assistance with their hospital bill may still receive bills from other healthcare providers. A list of providers who participate in the FAP at RRMC can be obtained from the business office or our patients and visitors page (See details below in bold.)

If a patient qualifies for the FAP,any amount already paid by the patient will be refunded. If a patient wants to appeal their FAP eligibility, they can ask for a review by the Business Services Director, Hospital Chief Financial Officer or a Hospital Executive.

RRMC will NOT use extraordinary collections actions such as reporting patients to credit agencies, taking money from patients' paycheck, liens on patients' home or other legal actions without FIRST making reasonable efforts to determine whether the patient is eligible for the FAP. Patients have 240 days after the first bill to submit an FAP Application. If collections are already under way when the application is received, we will stop those collections while a patient's application is processed.

For information on and assistance with the Charity Discount process, please visit the hospital business office on the first floor of the main hospital, across from the gift shop. Or patients may call 318-769-3225, or mail request to: RRMC Business Office, 211 4th St., Alexandria, LA 71301.