To the editor:

On Monday, Sept. 14, my wife and I were refused service at UP Health Systems facility in Hancock because we refused to sign the admission contract.

We refused for the following reasons: 1) The contract gives UP Health pre-approval to provide and bill for any services they deem necessary. Paragraph one. 2) The contract forces the patient to accept services from non-participating Medicare providers and to assume responsibility for the payments. Paragraph 10 b. 3) The contract sets a much higher rate for the services from non-participating providers. Paragraph four. 4) The contract forces patients to absolve UP Health Services of any joint liability they may have in providing those services. Paragraph 10a. 5) Additionally, the contract allows any hospital personnel they chose to observe the patients treatment, and takes away the right of the patient to determine who is allowed access to their medical records. Paragraph 2.

Put together, the contract gives the hospital the right to bill the patient, instead of Medicare, by choosing to use non-Medicare participating personnel, all without the patient’s prior knowledge. They can then be charged a much higher rate and claim that the charges were not covered by Medicare.

Is this a “bait and switch” scam? At first I thought so, but then I did some checking. The Portage Hospital that we’ve been going to for most four lives is no longer even a hospital. It is a for profit clinic whose business model (based on its contract) is to avoid billing through Medicare. For Medicare patients, this can have disastrous consequences. Medicare patients should avoid using their services and go to Aspirius Keweenaw, which is a participating Critical Access Hospital.

Does this mean you should give up your family doctor? No, Upper Great Lakes Family Health Center is a separate legal entity and you do not have to sign the UP Health contract to use them. They have their own simpler form and they have always honored my requests to not provide services that were not covered by my insurances. But when any services are needed which are require that you sign the UP Health admission contract, then the only way to be sure the services will be billed through Medicare, is to go to Aspirius in Calumet.

Frank Murphy

Chassell