If you are a Medicare patient in a rural area, then going to the hospital could leave you paying a lot more for services than you might have planned. Life is difficult enough when you are ill, it is really unfair that those who may be most vulnerable are not protected from hospital charges that would be illegal on the private insurance market.
In the 11/7/2014 article linked below, this loophole in the Medicare law is explained in more detail. The article also provides a link to a search feature where you can check to see which hospitals in your state may fall under this Medicare payment exemption.
See, http://nhpr.org/post/lack-transparency-leaves-some-medicare-patients-dark-half-nh-s-hospitals
However, the game changes in rural areas for hospitals that are designated as Critical Access Hospitals. Due to a loophole in the Medicare law, these hospitals can charge the patient a percentage of the bill that is higher than the 20% that normally would be required as a patient's responsibility. This information is not shared up front with the patient by Medicare or the hospital, so it creates a situation where the patient can be left with no choice but to pay the bill.Here’s how a payment normally works. The hospital sends a big bill to Medicare. Medicare then says…uh uh…we’re going to pay this smaller number. Medicare then pays the hospital 80 percent of the small number, and the Medicare patient pays 20 percent. . . .
In the 11/7/2014 article linked below, this loophole in the Medicare law is explained in more detail. The article also provides a link to a search feature where you can check to see which hospitals in your state may fall under this Medicare payment exemption.
See, http://nhpr.org/post/lack-transparency-leaves-some-medicare-patients-dark-half-nh-s-hospitals