CHOP’s Medical Financial Partnership program offers free tax preparation and financial counseling services to families

Most parents might not think of heading to the same place for their child’s doctor’s appointment and for filing their taxes. But through the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia’s Medical Financial Partnership (MFP) program, families of patients can access several completely free financial services.

At CHOP’s Karabots Pediatric Care Center in West Philly, nonprofit organizations offer free tax preparation services, financial counseling, college savings plans, and assistance navigating benefits programs.

“Our role is not just to deliver health-care services. Our role is really to ensure that children are able to achieve their highest level of health,” said George Dalembert, an attending physician at CHOP and the director of the MFP program.

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“In taking that more holistic approach to the work that we do as health-care providers, [it] makes you start to think about what are some of those other drivers of health? And there’s lots of data to show that people’s financial situation unfortunately [impacts] their health,” he said.

He explained that by providing these financial services through a medical setting, they become more accessible to Philadelphia families. Some people might not consider financial counseling if it weren’t offered in a free, convenient setting; many just may not have the time to take their child to the doctor and then head somewhere else for free tax preparation. Dalembert just hopes that people take advantage of this increased accessibility.

“We’re actually able to do things that we know will help to improve the [lives of] our patients and their families,” he said.

CHOP’s financial partnership is the only one of its kind in Philadelphia, though it builds off the success of well-established medical legal partnership programs at CHOP and elsewhere. Dalembert led the efforts to start the MFP in 2019 after learning about a similar program at Boston Medical Center. He said that families of patients are often surprised to hear that these services are available to them, especially for no cost.

“That’s really because you are challenging their conception of what a doctor’s office can offer,” he said. “That shock is often followed by excitement. It’s often followed by ‘Sign me up.’ It’s followed by ‘For real? Yes, what else do you offer?’”

CHOP partners with several nonprofit organizations to provide these services, like the Campaign for Working Families. CWF offers free tax preparation, which helps families to potentially save hundreds of dollars on filing fees and maximize their returns.

“Every year [in Philadelphia], there’s over a hundred million dollars that goes unclaimed in the earned income tax credit,” said Nikia Owens, the president and CEO of CWF.

Owens explained how getting the most out of tax returns with credits like the EITC and the child tax credit can be a major help to Philadelphia families who might not even be aware they are eligible for them. “It really helps to elevate a lot of our families above and out of poverty and be able to meet their basic needs and expenses at critical junctures [of their lives],” she said.

“Every year, those dollars get left on the table.”

There are also plenty of government benefits that CHOP’s families underutilize. CHOP partnered with Benefits Data Trust to use screening software that helps CHOP staff assess which benefits programs families of patients may be eligible for. Typically, BDT helps people apply for large programs like SNAP and Medicaid, but CHOP families may qualify for lesser-known benefits programs like the Pennsylvania Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, which helps people pay for energy bills.

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“It’s really great to see health-care organizations that are interested in supporting their patients [this way]. Their ability to pay for groceries and utilities and keep their house warm, these are all things that are really essential to their physical health as well,” said Conor Carroll from BDT.

A crucial element of the medical financial partnership is building financial literacy. CHOP and its partners believe that with better understanding of their finances and better planning for the future, patients and their families can be healthier in the long term.

“Younger parents or new families are experiencing big moments in life that are [outside] of what they’ve typically [run into],” said Tyler Young, a program manager with Clarifi, which offers financial counseling services at Karabots, regardless of a family’s income. “These aren’t things that are taught in school,” he said.

Dalembert joked that he has been proselytizing to other doctors about the effectiveness of the MFP. He does sincerely hope that other medical providers begin their own financial partnerships, so that more people can be connected with these essential services.

“People may not be used to being seen as a whole person [by the medical system],” he said.

“It’s real. There is no catch. And we’re doing it because we care and because we also recognize our responsibility to leverage our resources, to leverage our partnerships, to lead new and different ways of thinking.”