“CLEVELAND, Ohio — Before, Cleveland Clinic patients were going to be turned away if they couldn’t immediately pay their insurance co-pay. Now, in a reversal announced Wednesday, Clinic patients can once again see a doctor without paying first,” Julie Washington writes over at cleveland.com. “The Clinic — which came under criticism for the policy that patient advocates said would limit access to care for the poor — now will allow those with commercial insurance or Medicare Advantage, who can’t pay their co-pay at the time of their non-emergency outpatient visit, to set up a 0% interest payment plan. Patient appointments won’t be canceled or rescheduled for those who can’t pay immediately, the Clinic said Wednesday in a letter to patients and a news release. And, patients who do not have the means to pay for services upfront can request financial assistance. ‘It was never our intention to not have patients access care,’ a Clinic spokeswoman said. ‘We felt that it was the right thing to do to provide an option for patients to be able to make their copays.’ In mid-May, the Clinic announced that some appointments would be canceled or rescheduled if patients could not pay upfront, starting on June 1. The Clinic’s reversal of that policy comes after it faced significant backlash for the move. Over the past decade, the health system has seen the growth in out-of-pocket costs for patients through their insurance plans. In 2024, more than half of co-pays were not paid for Clinic services, the health system said.” Julie Washington, “Cleveland Clinic reverses ‘pay now’ co-pay policy after criticism,” cleveland.com.
