Hospital financial assistance, sometimes called charity care, may reduce or forgive certain hospital bills for eligible patients. It is especially important for uninsured patients, underinsured patients, and people facing bills they cannot afford.
Rules vary by hospital. Always ask for the written financial-assistance policy and application before assuming you do or do not qualify.
Which Hospitals Have Financial-Assistance Policies?
Tax-exempt nonprofit hospitals must maintain written financial-assistance policies for eligible emergency and medically necessary care.
Public hospitals and for-profit hospitals may also have discount or payment programs, but rules differ.
What May Be Covered
A hospital policy may cover emergency department care, inpatient hospital care, outpatient hospital services, medically necessary procedures, and some hospital-owned clinic services.
What May Not Be Covered
A hospital financial-assistance approval may not cover every bill connected to the visit. Separate bills may come from emergency physicians, surgeons, anesthesiologists, radiologists, pathologists, ambulance companies, outside laboratories, or independent physician groups.
Ask each billing entity whether it has its own assistance program.
Apply Even If You Have Insurance
Underinsured patients may still qualify when deductibles, coinsurance, or out-of-pocket costs are unaffordable. Some hospitals consider household income, assets, family size, medical hardship, or other circumstances.
How to Apply
- Ask for the financial-assistance policy and application.
- Request an itemized bill.
- Ask whether collections will pause while the application is reviewed.
- Submit the application with copies of documents.
- Keep proof of submission.
- Request the decision in writing.
- Appeal or ask for reconsideration if information was missing or circumstances changed.
Emergency Care and Ability to Pay
Emergency departments must provide required emergency screening and stabilizing treatment under federal law regardless of ability to pay.
That right does not erase the bill automatically. Financial assistance is usually a separate application process.
Related Resources
- How Sliding-Scale Healthcare Fees Work
- How Free Clinics, Community Health Centers, and Public Hospitals Help Patients
- Urgent Care vs. Emergency Room vs. Free Clinic
Sources
- IRS: Financial assistance policies
- IRS: Financial assistance policy and emergency medical care policy
- CMS: Emergency room rights
- CMS: Emergency Medical Treatment & Labor Act
This article is for general information only and is not legal, financial, medical, or insurance advice. Hospital policies and billing rules can change.