A Cleveland woman has filed a claim in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court to prevent the Cleveland Clinic from charging copays before office visits, diagnostic tests and procedures. Cassandra McDonald, who spoke exclusively with Ideastream Public Media on Monday, filed the claim May 16.
The Cleveland Clinic announced last week that appointments will be rescheduled or canceled for patients who can’t make their copay at the time of their non-emergency visit. The policy was intended to take effect June 1.
McDonald, who is a law and policy analyst, argued in the court filing that the policy change is a violation of Ohio public policy and discriminatory practices, because state public policy favors equitable access to health care and prohibits discriminatory practices that disproportionately impact low-income individuals and medically underserved populations. This policy would require lower income patients who could not pay up front to have delayed medical interventions and instead have to visit emergency rooms, the filing stated…