LEE- Those without health insurance can feel just a little bit better when taking that dreaded trip to the hospital.

Lee Memorial Health Systems is considering offering a 20% discount to their uninsured patients.

20% off the total bill is something they hope will encourage patients to pay their bills.

They realized the importance of providing this discount by looking at the large number of uninsured residents in our area. One in every four residents in the Southwest Florida population doesn't have health insurance.

"The uninsured population has changed over the years... in the past if you were unemployed, you were uninsured... now we have a lot of working uninsured," said the system director, Bille Jo DeBolt.

All five Lee County hospitals owned by Lee Memorial will comply if this is passed.

The financial board passed the rule on Thursday, but now it will be up to the Full Board to make the final decision.

If it's passed, it will go into effect on October 1st.