Question about wording of fee policy

[PrincessLuLu]

I am a 22 year old female who is sexually active. Being someone who wants to be responsible about this, I used the internet to find the address and contact info of my local family planning clinic. I have not needed to use them yet, but I know where to go and what to do if need be. They have a website that says this information as well as a general description of the services they provide (pelvic exams, birth control, sti testing, etc.), but the section about payment confused me. It says that they operate on a sliding scale fee basis, which from my understanding means the amount I have to pay is determined by my income. I am a college student who does not have a job, hence no income, but I live with my parents. Neither of my parents are working (both retired) due to medical issues and the only other household member is my younger sister who also is an unemployed college student. So in short, I have no idea what my income actually is. I live in the United States and my family is enrolled in Medicaid, our state's health insurance program for low income individuals. Would I say that our income is 0 (I don't think anyone would believe me) or do I count what's in a bank account (I also don't know the exact amounts of anyone of my family members' accounts) or what? It also says "no one is denied service due to inability to pay". Does this mean that you should be expected to have the amount they come up with based on income, or that they'll take you even if you have no money? I honestly am so confused and I'm probably reading into this way much, but I just don't want to have another roadblock (of course whenever I'd go there I'd be sure to have cash but I'd need to know how much) because this can be a time sensitive issue sometimes, such as a pregnancy test or getting birth control refilled.

[Sam W]

Hi Princess Lulu,

My suggestion would be to call the clinic and ask for some clarification (for instance, if you were coming in for certain services and you're on medicaid, how much would you be expected to pay?) The person at the clinic will be able to talk to you about that clinic's specific policies and how they go about figuring out how much a client owes.

[Redskies]

Also, "income" usually means the amount of money that comes in to a person or a household, whether that's per week or per month or per year. Usually, when something official asks about income, they want to know how much money is coming in from paid work; sometimes, they also want to know how much money is coming in from financial investments or from any social security payments. You can always ask what things they want you to include, and whether they want just your own income or your household's income, before you start giving detailed personal information Money that was already in someone's bank account will almost never be counted as "income", because it wasn't money that came in to the person/household, it was already there. Does that make more sense now?

I can't speak with authority for any particular organisation, but "no one is denied service due to inability to pay" usually means: if you truly cannot pay (or pay enough), they will still treat you / serve you.

[PrincessLuLu]

Okay, because my parents do pay some income tax but they do not have a formal job where wages are given (it's probably from social security, which dad has or investments, but I don't know exactly what). But just because of my income doesn't mean I have a ton of money. I would have to pay out of pocket and want to be sure my parents don't know about it because I do not trust they would handle it positively based on incidents in the past (not anything dangerous, but I'd rather not face possibility of them getting mad)

[Stephanie]

It may help too to have a list of questions you have written down before you call. That way you don't get off the phone and feel like you have to call back or go without an answer. But for sure, calling and talking to someone there is always a good idea in terms of insurance or payments.