Cleveland Clinic to require payment of copays before outpatient visits or appointments will be rescheduled

CLEVELAND — If you are someone who receives their healthcare through the Cleveland Clinic, you likely received an email on Tuesday alerting you of some changes. Beginning June 1, 2025, the clinic is going to start requiring patients for nonemergency services to pay their copays up front, or your visit will be rescheduled or canceled.

I was a little irritated," said Joel Steven, a Cleveland Clinic patient who received the email notifying him of the change. He reached out to News 5 to share his concerns.

"Just ... if you don't have your copay with you at the time of your appointment, they will reschedule you. I don't think ... the Cleveland Clinic takes into account all of the difficulties it is in actually getting an appointment in the first place," he said.

News 5 reached out to the clinic to see if there was someone who could explain the need for the change, but were told no one would be available for an interview……

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A lot of systems, like University Hospitals, have on their website in bold that the copay is something paid "before" receiving a covered service. UH tells News 5 that while they strongly encourage patients to do so, they say they "do not cancel or reschedule appointments if the copay is not paid ahead of time."

It's the flexibility that Joel wishes the clinic would adopt, saying that when he goes to the doctor, he usually brings only what he needs.

"You want to go in, you want to see the doctor, and then you want to leave, so you don't come equipped a lot of times to make transactions," he said. "I think that flexibility is warranted if it's an existing patient or if it's a new patient but they have no problems with paying the Cleveland Clinic their deductibles I think there should be some leeway."

https://www.news5cleveland.com/news/local-news/cleveland-clinic-to-require-payment-of-copays-before-outpatient-visits-or-appointments-can-be-rescheduled

***** The Cleveland Clinic gets patients from all over NE Ohio and beyond … it’s not uncommon to have to make a 1 and 1/2 or 2 hour drive there to see a heart specialist or whatever ….. can you imagine having to take a day off of work, possibly arranging child care or a driver to take you …. Then being told that since you don’t have your co-pay to hand over up front before your appointment, they won’t see you that day.