Kern Medical Patient Financial Services
Kern Medical supports giving patients access to make informed decisions about their treatment options. Beginning in 2019, the federal government has required all hospitals to publicly post their listing of standard charges for all services. What hospitals list for charges and what they receive in payment varies significantly. Medicare and Medi Cal (California Medicaid), for example, pay based on rates that typically fall well short of a hospital’s cost to provide care. The out-of-pocket amount patients pay depends on many factors – including some out of a hospital’s control, such as deducible, co-insurance, co-payments, out-of-pocket caps, and other insurance benefit requirements. However, federal law requires that hospitals maintain uniform charges for all patients, regardless of a patient’s financial or insurance status. These are the rates listed as a hospital’s standard charges (also known as a “Charge Description Master, or CDM”). Standard charges rarely represent the amount the patient or the insurer is responsible to pay. The Charge Description Master is complex and contains technical terms and codes that require specialized knowledge. This listing of standard charges should not be used by individuals to estimate what they may pay for care. If you wish to determine what a patient may need to pay, please contact our hospital’s Health Benefit Advisors using the “Request an Estimate” link below.
Complete Charge File Download: 475618278_Kern Medical Center_Standard Charges.csv
Current Charity Care and Discount Policy: PAC-IM-960 Charity Care and Discount Program