Any day or night in North Carolina -- your
community hospitals are standing by ready
to care for you and your family.
Unlike most businesses, hospitals are open
24 hours a day, seven days a week. And they
have to be ready for anything, from your 8
year old's broken arm to a natural disaster
or catastrophic event. And hospitals provide
care to anyone, whether they can pay for it
or not.
Every wonder how that works?
Hospitals charge every patient the same amount
for services. So if you come to a hospital
for treatment, you'll get a bill for those
charges.
Now here's where it gets interesting.
Nearly half of the patients who come to the
hospital have their care paid for by Medicare.
But did you know the federal government only
pays the hospital about 88% of what it costs
to provide that care?
About 16 of every 100 hospital patients are
covered by Medicaid. In North Carolina, Medicaid
claims payments only cover about 66 percent
of the cost.
And almost 8 percent of our patients have
no insurance so hospitals work with them to
pay what they can.
So even though hospitals 'charge' everyone
the same amount -- hospitals only get paid
what the government, insurer, or patient is
willing to pay. Hospitals have to absorb the
difference between what it costs to provide
the care and the payments they receive. Last
year, that was more than 2.5 billion dollars.
So how do hospitals stay open? Nearly 30 percent
of hospital patients have private insurance.
Hospitals cover part of the shortfall by asking
their insurance companies to pay what the
government doesn't pay.
Unfortunately, that may mean people who are
covered by private insurance have to pay higher
insurance premiums. And that's not sustainable
for you or for hospitals. That's why hospitals
are working every day to manage costs and
still provide high quality care.
Because we know what really matters is that
hospitals are here for you when you need us.
Join us and learn more about how your hospitals
work at HealthierTomorrowNC.com
