To the Editor:
It was with absolute anger and dismay that I viewed the “open letter to the community” published by the Bayonne Medical Center (BMC) in the Sept. 23 issue of the “Bayonne Community News.”
This statement is a total reversal of BMC’s previously published promises to accept whatever payment the insurers provide and not back-bill the patient. What has happened here? Based on this change of policy, I refuse to allow health care services to be provided to me by the Bayonne Medical Center.
By way of explanation, allow me to offer this sample scenario. All cost figures are fictitious and are provided only to demonstrate my concerns. If, God forbid, one were to be admitted to BMC and the bill came to $20,000; and assuming that Medicare and a private insurer paid a total of $8,000; then the patient would end up owing BMC the princely sum of $12,000. This is totally unacceptable and would cause someone like myself to disburse their life savings to pay the bill. One could say that, with BMC’s unjust business policies, the average person is one illness away from the poorhouse.
In my humble opinion, Bayonne has now lost its only hospital.
S.F. KACHMARSKY