Financial Aid Law (FAL)

Hospital Financial Assistance Policies and Procedures

Primary Service Area Criteria

Criteria for the establishment of Primary Service Areas:

1. Pursuant to Public Health Law (PHL) § 2807-k(9-a)(f), a primary service area (PSA) must be established for each inpatient facility possessing a separate Permanent Facility Identifier (PFI) number under its Article 28 General Hospital certificate. The Department is required to establish criteria for determining such primary services areas.
2. As determined by the Department, the legally mandated minimum PSA for each facility shall be as follows:
   1. For each hospital located in any of the five counties that make up New York City, such hospital´s PSA shall consist of all such five counties, plus any such other counties within the State which are contiguous with the county in which such hospital is located.
   2. For all hospitals located in counties other than the five counties that make up New York City, the PSA for each such hospital shall consist of the county in which each such hospital is located, plus all contiguous counties. In addition, hospitals in certain counties have been assigned PSAs which include non-contiguous counties in order to achieve sufficient legally mandated coverage for every geographic area of the State.
   3. Attached is a chart which lists each county in the State and the PSA assigned to all hospitals in each such county.
   4. Hospitals may, at their discretion, extend the application of their financial aid policies and procedures to persons residing outside their PSAs and are encouraged to do so. In particular, hospitals which provide specialized medical services and procedures which are not readily available in other facilities are strongly encouraged by the Department to extend the application of their financial aid policies and procedures to persons residing outside their PSAs with regard to such specialized services and procedures, whether self-referred or referred by another provider or institution.
   5. Hospitals which are willing to extend the application of their financial aid policies and procedures to all eligible persons residing within the State, or which are willing to extend such policies to areas of the State outside their PSAs, are asked to so advise the Department regarding the extent of such additional coverage. This letter is due to the Department on March 2, 2007 and should be sent to:
      Martin Conroy
      Director, Division of Primary and Acute Care Services
      Hedley Building
      6th Floor, 433 River Street
      Troy, New York 12180-2299
3. (3) Hospitals are required to make medically necessary medical care and financial aid available to all patients who reside in their PSAs and who otherwise meet the eligibility criteria set forth in PHL § 2807-k(9-a).

Process for Publicizing Each Hospital´s Primary Service Area:

1. The Department will post a description of each distinct facility´s primary service area on each hospital´s profile published on the New York State Hospital Profile available on the Department´s website and shall also post information regarding those hospitals which have advised the Department of their willingness to extend the application of their financial aid policies and procedures to areas outside their PSAs.
2. Any proposed change to a hospital´s designated PSA must be reviewed and approved by the Department prior to its implementation.