New London — An increase in the cost of charity care provided by Lawrence + Memorial Hospital thus far in 2016 is likely to continue growing, as L+M adopts the more generous patient financial assistance policies of the larger Yale New Haven Health network it recently joined.

Under the conditions set by state regulators who approved the affiliation last week, L+M is required to change its current program for providing financial assistance to needy patients to become “at least as generous and benevolent” as what’s offered by Yale New Haven.

Types of assistance provided by L+M include payment plans and full or partial coverage of care, depending on an individual patient's need.

The requirement was imposed “to ensure continued access to health care services for the patient populations,” according to the approval documents released Thursday by the state Office of Healthcare Access.

The affiliation took effect on Friday.

Under the new policy, needy L+M patients will no longer be required to meet income caps to qualify for eligibility.

Yale-New Haven sets no cap, while L+M had a cap of 400 percent of the federal poverty level, which currently equals about $89,000 for a family of four.

The new policy also removes the two-year time limit that had been in place at L+M to apply for assistance.

Once these and other restrictions on charity care are removed or relaxed under the new policy, L+M is likely to field more applicants for assistance, and to approve more of those applications.

“It could mean that we expand our reach to patients with charity care,” Sharon Teel, director of revenue cycle at L+M, said Tuesday. “It could be a good thing for patients.”

While the number of L+M patients seeking the assistance has declined over the last three years, the cost of providing that care has risen.

Thus far in 2016, 483 patients applied for help, compared with 520 in 2015 and 604 in 2014.

Of those who applied, 405 were approved in 2016, compared with 447 last year and 518 two years ago. The figures were provided Tuesday by L+M officials.

The cost of that care, which ultimately comes out of hospital operating expenses, was $2.8 million so far this year, compared with $2.2 million last year and $2.04 million in 2014, Teel said.

At The Westerly Hospital, which is part of L+M Healthcare, 178 patients applied for help in 2016 and 151 were approved. That compares with 184 applicants and 156 approvals in 2015, and 343 applicants and 264 approvals two years ago.

Costs there went from just over $1 million in 2014 to $600,805 last year and $517,152 so far this year.

Yale-New Haven has seen an increase this year both in charity care patients and costs compared with 2015, but fewer financially needy patients than in 2014.

According to figures provided by Dana Marnane, spokeswoman for Yale-New Haven, 4,047 patients received assistance there in 2016, compared with 3,178 in 2015 and 4,625 in 2014.

Like L+M, funding for the financial assistance program at Yale-New Haven also comes out of operating expenses, Marnane said.

Providing the assistance cost the network $116 million a year in 2014 and is projected to be the same amount this year, Marnane said. The hospital provided $107 million in assistance in 2015.

Yale New Haven’s charity care policy also is in effect at its two other affiliates, Greenwich and Bridgeport hospitals, and at The Hospital of St. Rafael, which operates as a satellite campus of Yale-New Haven Hospital, Marnane said.

Mike O'Farrell, L+M spokesman, said the new charity care policies have not yet been adopted, but transition teams now being formed will work to ensure that all the processes are in place to enact the new program.

"Per the conditions, we are 100 percent committed, but some will go into effect before others," he said. He added that L+M's current charity care policies are "very similar" to Yale's.

In addition to easier terms for income eligibility and no time limits on applying for assistance, Yale-New Haven’s policy also offers a streamlined application process, requiring two payroll stubs instead of three as L+M requires, and allows for written verification of income from the patient.

At L+M, written verification must come from the patient’s employer.

Spokesmen for both hospitals provided the information on how the two programs compare.

Payment plans at Yale-New Haven can extend up to 48 months — more than twice as long as at L+M — and there is no asset test required.

At L+M, patients can be deemed ineligible for assistance depending on the results of an asset test.

In addition, Yale-New Haven does not require patients qualifying for financial help to leave a deposit on charges.

At L+M, patients can be asked to leave a 20 percent deposit, but it is not a requirement of assistance, O’Farrell said.

j.benson@theday.com