March 19, 2007
Carondelet Health Announces New Interest-Free, Extended-Term Financing Program Available to All Patients

Kansas City, Missouri - To provide patients with more payment options and help ease concerns about how to cover the ever-increasing number of "self-pay" expenses (out-of-pocket health care costs not covered by insurance or other providers), Carondelet Health has partnered with Aequitas Capital Management to offer all patients CarePayment, an extended-term, zero percent financing program. Carondelet Health, which includes St. Joseph Medical Center and

St. Mary's Medical Center, is the first health care system to offer the CarePayment zero interest payment plan in all of Kansas and Missouri.

"CarePayment is the kind of patient-friendly payment program that has been in high demand by hospitals and patients alike. It provides an additional option to traditional payment terms and payment methods of cash, check or credit card," explains Steve Cleary, chief financial officer, Carondelet Health. "With the introduction of CarePayment, all of our patients will be offered the benefit of an extended-term, interest-free finance program to create a payment plan that may better suit their budget."

The CarePayment program features a zero percent medical center-branded payment card that is available to all patients - regardless of employment or credit history. There is no approval or application process and additional medical center charges may be added to the card as long as the patient is current with their monthly payments.

Aequitas Capital Management developed CarePayment to address the financial challenges patients often face, whether it's due to higher co-pays and insurance deductibles, or the lack of medical insurance altogether. "Our critical goal for CarePayment is to provide every patient of Carondelet Health with an easy and affordable way to pay their out-of-pocket expenses," says Steve Wright, Aequitas' senior managing director of healthcare markets. "The CarePayment program reflects our ongoing commitment to developing socially responsible financial services that create a positive impact for our clients and their communities."

CarePayment is currently available to all patients of Carondelet Health, including patients with outstanding balances. To learn more about how to participate, call 816-943-2192 at St. Joseph Medical Center or 816-655-5415 at St. Mary's Medical Center.

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