UNC asks patients to pay up front

Less than two years after UNC Health Care pledged to ease billing practices some found threatening, the system is again ramping up efforts to collect money from its patients. All hospital and physician clinics affiliated with the state-supported health system have begun asking patients to pay their share of the bill upfront. That includes $15 and $20 co-payments to see a doctor, as well as big-ticket services such as MRI scans, which under many insurance plans can run into the hundreds of dollars. UNC Health Care leaders say asking for such payments doesn't conflict with their commitment to be more friendly to patients.