Financial Assistance

Atchison Hospital Guidelines for Financial Assistance

Atchison Hospital provides care to patients in our service area without regard to their ability to pay for the services. Realizing that many in our service area need special consideration in this regard, Atchison Hospital provides a significant amount of services at no charge or a reduced cost to eligible persons who are indigent and cannot pay for care. Discounts for qualified patients are based on a percentage of the Federal Poverty Guidelines. These guidelines are updated annually. Patients may apply at the time of service, or up to 240 days after receiving their first statement. Before applying the discount, the total charges will first be reduced by the average percentage of write off for all payer contracts.

Persons and services NOT eligible:

  • Non U.S. citizens, lacking immigrant status (including visitors and students).
  • Persons who reside outside of Atchison Hospital service area at the time of service based on location.
  • Elective/non-emergent procedures including but not limited to: cosmetic type of services, fertility and infertility treatment and procedure including birth control, circumcision, hearing aids and evaluations, weight loss programs unless diabetes related, sports physicals, and Lap Band procedures.
  • Persons not cooperating to obtain eligibility or payment assistance from third party resources.
  • Collection agency accounts that have incurred legal fees.

Eligibility Guidelines:

Eligibility is based on residency, gross income and household size. The discount is given only after all payment sources have been exhausted. 

1. Residency:

      • Applicant must be a permanent resident of Atchison Hospital’s service area. A post office box is not acceptable. A utility bill or another form of mail addressed to the applicant at the permanent residence will be required.
        • Primary service area in Kansas: Atchison, Bendena, Cummings, Denton, Easton, Effingham, Everest, Lancaster, Muscotah, Nortonville, Potter, Troy and Valley Falls.
        • Primary service area in Missouri: Rushville.
        • If a person is an immigrant, applicant must have an “Alien Resident Card” or a “United States Citizen Identification Card”, not a temporary card or pending status.

2. Income:

      • All applicants will be asked to disclose and document all sources of income received by the household.
      • Patient or family must have written verification of household income for three or twelve months 

3. Household:

    • A household is a group of people who live together. They must be connected by marriage, civil partnership, or be a recognized couple (same sex or opposite sex), or they can be related – a child, parent, sister, brother, nephew, niece or in-law for instance – or have another recognized connection such as fostering or adoption. A household is all people living together in one house collectively.

To inquire about financial assistance please call Atchison Hospital’s Financial Counselor at (913) 360-5533. You may obtain Financial Assistance information and an application at our Financial Counselor, hospital outpatient registration, & Emergency Department registration areas. You may also find our Financial Assistance application and guidelines online at www.atchisonhospital.org. Financial Assistance signs are also posted at hospital outpatient & ED registration desks. Financial Assistance notification is also included on the patient statements and letters.

Financial assistance may be applied on any account(s) that have been assigned to an outside collection agency. Atchison Hospital can place accounts with a collection agency within 120 days, however, the collection agency cannot begin any extraordinary collection actions before the first 240 days from the date of the first statement.

Definition of Household

A household is a group of people who live together. They must be connected by marriage, civil partnership, or be a recognized couple (same sex or opposite sex), or they can be related – a child, parent, sister, brother, nephew, niece or in-law for instance – or have another recognized connection such as fostering or adoption. A household is all people living together in one house collectively. The poverty guidelines are applied to the household as a whole and not the individual.

Definition of Income

Income is the total annual cash receipts before taxes from all sources, for all persons in the family unit, with the exceptions noted. Income data for a part of a year may be annualized in order to determine eligibility – for instance, by multiplying four the amounts of income received during the most recent three months. Income includes money, wages (including overtime), and salaries before any deductions. Income also includes gross receipts from non-far or farm self-employment. Income includes (but not limited to ) regular payment from social security, railroad retirement, unemployment, compensation, strike benefits from union funds, workers’ compensation, veterans’ payments, public assistance.

Supplemental Security Income, General Assistance or General relief money payments, training stipends, alimony, child support and military family allotments or other regular support from an absent family member or someone not living in the household; private pensions, stocks, bonds, government employee pension (including military retirement pay) and regular insurance or annuity payments; college or university scholarships, grants, fellowships, and assistantships; and dividend, interest, net rural income, net royalties, receipts from estates or trusts, inheritance and net gambling or lottery winnings.

Presumptive Eligibility

There are instances when a patient may appear eligible for financial discounts, but there is no financial assistance form on file or a lack of supporting documentation. In the event there is no evidence to support a patient’s eligibility for financial assistance, Atchison Hospital may use outside agencies or vendors in determining eligibility and potential discount amounts. These resources may use demographic and household information and/or credit scoring technology to determine the percent of assistance to apply to the patient’s account. Patients who meet presumptive eligibility criteria may be granted financial assistance without completing the application.

FAQ

Atchison Hospital Financial Assistance Guidelines

Family Size

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 8+

A discount may be given if income is below:

  • $12,760
  • $17,240
  • $21,720
  • $26,200
  • $30,680
  • $35,160
  • $39,640
  • $44,120
  • Add $4,480 for each additional person

Participating/Non-Participating Providers

Not all services are provided and billed by Atchison Hospital. Therefore, the patient will need to discuss financial options and payments with those individual companies; including but not limited to professional radiology, specialty physicians, and pathology. The following is a general listing of participating and non-participating providers. Please inquire with any questions as providers listed may change.

Participating Providers

Bonnie A. Tackett, MD Brandon J. Tackett, MD  
Charlie Wilson, CRNA Clint Colberg, MD Darin E. Allen, MD
Darlene R. Hirst, PAC David W. Hart, DNP, CRNA Dina J. Seibert, DO
Donald P. Ables, MD Edward A. Dodge, PAC Everett J. Wilkinson, DO
Gerald W. Clevenger, MPAS, PAC Jack N. Parsons, CRNA Jeffrey Flasschoen, PAC
Jessica A. Stone, MD John R. Eplee, MD Johnathan Leck, MD
Jon M. Siebert, MD Lexy J. Rooney, PAC Lisa A. Childress, PAC
McGarrett M. Groth, DO Molly VanPetten, MD Norma Green, MD
Ryan M. Thomas, MD Steven L. Rovenstine, DO  
     

Non-Participating Providers

Allen Reavis, DDS Andrea Bock-Kunz, MD Balaji S. Datti, MD
Brandon D. Pomeroy, MD Charles B. Porter, MD David B. Wilson, MD
David L. Ewing, MD Dennis C. Dobyan, MD Donald Gossett, DDS
  Eric Hockstad, MD Erik Anderson, DC
Fariz Habib, MD Jane L. Schwabe, MD Jayant Nath, MD
Jeane Koenen, DC Jennifer J. Franks, PAC John S. Reifschneider, DO
Julian J. Nunez, MD Kevin H. Albee, AuD Kyle Huntington, DDS
Larissa Rice, DC Latitia Guthals, APRN Marina N. Hannen, MD
Mark F. Lierz, MD
Samuel K Caughron, MD, FCAP Melissa Huntington, PAC Michael D. Franklin, MD
Michelle J. Pruessner, PAC Raj Rangineni, MD Randall E. Mitchem, DO
Ricardo Ramos, MD Robert R. Grant, DO Roderick Warren, MD
Shannon Engel, DPM Shekhar Challa, MD Sherry X. Zhou, MD
Stephen Ruhlman, MD Steve J. Sitek, DPM Steven B. Gollub, MD
Steven D. Owens, MD Thomas L. Rosamond, MD Wayne O. Wallace, Jr., MD

MAWD Pathology:

Brett W. Sramek, DO, FCAP Chakshu Gupta, MD, FCAP Deborah A. Borek, MD, FCAP
Douglas W. Shevlin, MD, FCAP Drew D. Nedved, MD, FCAP Edgar L. Hunt, Jr., MD, FCAP
Garth R. Fraga, MD, FCAP Jason-Scott L Holly, MD, FCAP Justin D. Richey, MD, FCAP
Ken C. Spengel, DO, FCAP Kenneth R. Watson, DO, FCAP Melissa S. Jacobs, MD, FCAP
Michael R. Caughron, MD, FCAP Pablo J. Hernandez, MD, FCAP Scott M. Ravis, MD

Radiology Specialists of St. Joseph:

Benjamin Saverino, MD Brandon Massin, MD Bret Nielson, DO
David Mena, MD Donald (Skip) Sallee, MD Jack Bridges, MD
Jose Alverez, MD Michelle Pal, MD S. Chris Looney, MD
Steven Poplaw, MD