Once we receive your Medical Aid Form ... what happens next?
The RESCU Foundation is fully dedicated to protecting your privacy. We carefully balance HIPAA privacy laws and charity regulations and treat confidentiality with the highest priority. While we help you navigate the medical system, and carefully document the process, your private information is protected from all others, and your case is only discussed during the course of official Medical Aid Panel work. We treat every client as an important part of our great community, and work hard for the best possible outcome. Through it all, confidentiality is paramount.
Assistance from RESCU Foundation is potentially available to all pass-holding, working participants of Renaissance festivals–current, retired, local, seasonal, and on-the-road show participants.
When RESCU receives a Medical Aid Request Form, Aid Intake will call the client to confirm the information received is complete and will schedule it for inclusion in one of the two Medical Aid Panel meetings per month. They will prepare the case notes and represent the client’s information for the Aid Panel.
The Medical Aid Panel consists of five veteran Board and staff members who meet to evaluate the medical need and eligibility, then determine the best way to proceed. Commonly this includes mentorship, but may include partnership programs, advocacy, and financial assistance. In the case that the Aid Panel decides to grant financial assistance, the panel makes a determination of assistance on a sliding scale of several factors. Some cases have no complexities and are able to be fully processed with only one discussion, but many have elements that need longer attention. Those cases remain open and are assigned to RESCU Case Management. Assistance from RESCU can take many forms and the common factor is empowerment!
RESCU Staff then contacts the client to share the Medical Aid Panel’s decision and provide any other information needed. For the cases that remain open, this call will outline next steps, establish a relationship with a RESCU Case Manager, and determine how much the client is able to be involved in the process. Our goal is to help the client find ways to eliminate their medical debt – our most successful efforts involve as much regular communication between the client and the RESCU Staff as possible. If a long period passes with no contact from you, RESCU may close your case, but your case can always be reopened at a later date.
What your RESCU Case Manager can do for YOU:
- Mentor you through navigating the medical billing system
- Help make sense of confusing medical bills
- Teach you how to find and apply for financial assistance to help lower or wipe out medical bills
- Conference in on calls with you to medical service providers to get questions answered or clarity on any issues
- For those who are very ill, your mentor can become more of an advocate to:
- Communicate with service providers on your behalf
- Make sure your medical bills are in order
- After all possible avenues in reducing your medical bills are exhausted, your RESCU Case Manager will:
- Share the amount of your remaining medical debt with the Aid Panel
- Present your case to the 5 Aid Panel Members to determine if/how RESCU can assist financially
After a case is closed, RESCU Staff will likely request the client answer a short satisfaction survey. At this point, our clients are usually very happy, and we hope they will Share their Story, to help RESCU Spread the Word about our work, our mission, and our impact.