In the article about the new medical center opening in the March 17 issue of The Times, it stated that “all insurance carriers will be accepted.” It also stated, “the Emergency Department will honor all in-network benefits for emergency and observation services.”

I think it needs to be made clearer what this statement means. If one uses their services, and it turns out that the facility and the physicians are out of network, will they accept what the patient’s insurance will cover and pay for, or will the patient receive a surprise large bill because of being out of network?

In addition, I believe that Medicare will not pay for services if the patient is kept in the ER for “observation,” but will pay for services if admitted to the hospital. Since there are so many people in our town on Medicare, it is important to understand what the hospital’s policy will be regarding the “observation” issue.

Since the “out of network” and Balance Billing issues have received lots of public attention, it is important to those with private insurance to understand what the hospital policy and practice will be. I ask the owners of the new hospital to disclose publicly what their policies will be.