Los Angeles County partners plan system to screen hospital patients for financial aid

Los Angeles County health officials and hospital groups are working on a system to automatically screen hospital patients for financial aid, without requiring them to apply. Public health officials calculate that about 800,000 residents have medical bills they can’t pay. Naman Shah, a county physician and epidemiologist, estimates the system could prevent several hundred million dollars of medical debt every year.

The Hospital Association of Southern California agreed to procure a screening system for its members, and L.A. Care committed $2 million to set it up. Only about 1 in 5 hospitals in the county currently use such systems, Shah said. Partners hope to have the system running by January, but hospital officials are still working out its long-term funding and how many of the county’s 88 acute care hospitals will use it. A state law requires all California hospitals to start presumptive eligibility screening by next July.