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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WVIR) – Some new laws are officially in place in Virginia, and some may have a direct impact on UVA Health. This could mean more affordable healthcare in the Commonwealth.

The general assembly is making hospitals more transparent.

“Healthcare is important to everyone, but especially here in our community,” said 57th District Delegate Sally Hudson.

Hudson sits on the health committee for the general assembly.

“We’ve had a lot of big problems with medical debt collection for many years,” Hudson said.

She says those problems were happening right at UVA Health. This goes back to 2019, when patients from the Health Center reported that they were in the hundreds of millions of dollars in debt. Now delegates and the Health Center are taking steps to prevent this from happening again.

“A hospital can’t put a pledge on your house or your car, you can’t collect anyone’s wages. And now instead, they want to review all uninsured patients to check and see if they qualify for financial programs and make sure everyone can come up with a repayment plan that matches their income if they need to, ”said Hudson. . .

She helped carry out that draft in place. She says the Legal Aid Justice Center was also a key partner when debt collection scandals were taking place in the Charlottesville community.

“This was something we were constantly hearing from Charlottesville residents, who had been caught in a trap with their medical bills,” Hudson said.

She says no one will go through this again, whether it’s in Charlotte, or in another part of the Commonwealth.

“UVA Health is such an important foundation of our community and I give them a lot of credit for working to set better standards, not only for themselves and their own patients, but also help us bring more hospitals on board,” Hudson said.

HB 481 is also in place, requiring each hospital to provide information on its website about standard charges for goods and services. This transparency can also limit the amount patients are spending, and prevent medical bills from ending up amounting to a surprise amount.

“If you’re trying to decide where you plan to give your baby, you can choose the hospital that will be right for your insurance and the care you need,” Hudson said.

She says these bills are putting patients in the driving seat when it comes to their health care.

“We have a community that is very focused on healthcare, not just our patients, but we have two big hospitals and a lot of healthcare providers. It’s also the heart of everyone’s life, “said Hudson.

Delegate Hudson says in theory, this new transparency in hospitals could encourage hospitals to lower their prices in the long run, especially as they try to compete with others in the area.

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