By Michelle Price
Special to the UCBJ
COOKEVILLE –Tornado victims have one less thing to worry about as Cookeville Regional Medical Center (CRMC) has announced that they will not charge the 82 patients taken to CRMC with tornado-related injuries.
CRMC will bill the patient’s insurance and plans to accept the insurance payment as payment in full.
“The hospital is not going to bill the patient portion of any bill for the victims of the tornado,” said CRMC Chief Financial Officer Steve Ramey. “We are going to accept the insurance payment.”
Ramey said that none of the patients should receive a bill from CRMC as the hospital will write off any remaining balance, but sometimes it can unintentionally happen.
If any of these victims receives a bill, Chief Operating Officer Scott Williamsasks victims to notify the business office, and they will take care of it.
This only applies to bills from CRMC. Victims may still receive bills from other providers such as EMS, physicians, radiologists and other hospitals, but CRMC is encouraging those providers to do the same regarding waiving their bills.