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Bad Debt Write-off for Public Health
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INFORMATION CONTACT:
Jackie Morgan, Human Services Agency - Business Operations, Director, 704-296-4825
ACTION REQUESTED:
Authorize the County Manager to approve write-offs for eligible outstanding balances to maintain compliance with the Human Services Agency Public Health Department's Bad Debt Write-off Policy.
PRIOR BOARD ACTIONS:
None.
BACKGROUND:
The Human Services Agency requests approval to complete the Bad Debt Write-off process for Public Health within our Electronic Health Record System, CureMD. To remain in compliance with State requirements and Agency policy, Public Health is required to make every reasonable effort to collect payment for debt owed by uninsured patients and attempt to collect patient balances owed after 3rd Party Payers (e.g. insurance) have been billed and adjudicated claims, and it has been determined by the 3rd Party Payer that the remaining balance is the patient's responsibility.
The Bad Debt Write-Off process enables the Human Services' billing team to maintain accurate and compliant accounting ledgers. To ensure potential revenue collections are not overstated for debt balances that are deemed uncollectible and fall outside the guidelines allowed by the Public Health ledger, local government Public Health entities utilize two established mechanisms to address and remove outstanding patient debt balances: 1) Internal Bad Debt Write-Off for debts less than $50, and 2) Participation in the NC Debt Set-Off Collection Program for qualifying debts of $50 or more.
Pursuant to North Carolina General Statute 105A 1-16 (Setoff Debt Collection Act), local governments may submit qualifying delinquent debts to the N.C. Department of Revenue for collection through the Debt Set-Off Collection Program, provided statutory and administrative requirements are met, including minimum debt balance thresholds of $50 or more that is at least 60 days delinquent and required identifying informat...
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