Written by a parent, not a doctor. Nothing here is medical advice.

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Help reducing the hospital bill

A hospital’s financial-assistance policy can reduce eligible bills, including bills left after insurance.

What it is

A hospital’s financial-assistance policy can reduce eligible bills, including bills left after insurance.

A nonprofit hospital must publish a financial-assistance policy. Insured families may qualify, and an income drop can change the review. The hospital’s policy sets the limits, covered bills and documents needed.

Eligibility rules
  • The federal requirements here apply to tax-exempt hospitals; individual policies set eligibility and discounts.
  • A timely application can qualify even after payment. Amounts paid above the approved family share must be refunded when at least $5.
  • Reported income alone is not an assistance approval. The counselor checks the policy’s household, income, residency conditions and exceptions, covered services, insurance and service dates. For Phoenix Children’s, ask how its residency rules and exceptions apply to your family rather than assuming an Arizona address settles them.
What you get
  • A discount or write-off of eligible hospital charges.
  • A free application and a written decision under the hospital’s policy.
Coverage details
  • The federal application period lasts at least 240 days from the first post-discharge bill. Extraordinary collection actions cannot begin for at least 120 days after that bill.
  • Phoenix Children’s June 2026 summary gives free eligible care at or below 225% of poverty and discounts from 226% through 400%. Its full policy is dated April 20, 2026. Insured families can qualify.
  • Phoenix Children’s separate high-expense arrangement limits annual hospital payments to one-quarter of gross income once out-of-pocket costs exceed that share. This is a payment plan, not debt forgiveness.
  • Banner Children’s at Desert and Banner–University Medical Center Tucson are named in policy No. 770 version 6, effective July 1, 2025. Its written table gives full assistance below 200% of poverty, a 75% discount from 200% through 300%, and 50% above 300% through 400%. The website instead includes exactly 200% in free care; the counselor must resolve that boundary in writing. Insured discounts use eligible after-insurance balances; uninsured calculations use the policy’s amounts-generally-billed base.
  • Banner’s separate high-medical-expense rule can give 75% off the applicable balance when household medical expenses exceed half of gross income over twelve months. Insured patients can qualify.
  • Extraordinary collection actions include lawsuits, wage garnishment, credit reporting and certain debt sales. Federal rules limit these actions during a timely assistance review; they do not promise every billing contact stops.
If you decide to apply
  1. Ask the hospital financial counselor for the policy, income table and application.
  2. Bring income records, insurance statements and bill or account numbers.
  3. Ask which separately billed doctors are covered and what collection activity pauses during review.
After you apply
  • Keep the complete application and submission date. Ask for a written decision and account balance after any discount.
  • Phoenix Children’s financial counseling is at 602-933-2000. Banner’s system financial-assistance line is 888-264-2127; ask to be connected with the counselor for the hospital issuing your bill.
Good to know

A reported income below a hospital’s line is only a first check. The counselor must confirm the household, service dates, policy conditions and separately billed doctors.

Other details
  • Phoenix Children’s assistance approval lasts 12 months and can be reviewed when circumstances change. Banner’s hospital policy can cover qualifying bills from the prior 12 months and services in the following 180 days. The approval letter and the legal issuer of each bill determine what is included; separate clinicians and nonhospital services need their own policy check.
  • Phoenix Children’s June 2026 summary prints free eligible care at or below 225% of poverty and partial help at 226%–400%. Its full policy is dated April 20, 2026. Ask financial counseling which dated income table applies to your service dates and how it treats income between 225% and 226%. A policy publication date alone does not establish when those income bands began.
  • Banner’s posted hospital policy No. 770 version 6 is effective July 1, 2025. Its table places exactly 200% of poverty in the 75%-discount band, while the website includes 200% in free care. Ask the counselor to resolve that conflict in writing and explain the calculation for the actual bills; do not assume either outcome from this card.
  • Diamond Children’s is part of Banner–University Medical Center Tucson, named in Banner hospital policy No. 770 version 6, effective July 1, 2025. For bills issued by that covered hospital, the counselor can check the Banner bands, insured-balance rules and approval periods. Separate physician or clinic bills may follow another policy. The Banner system line, 888-264-2127, can connect you with Tucson financial counseling.
  • Arizona’s medical-debt interest and earnings protections are separate from hospital discounts. Ask the hospital counselor or legal adviser whether any state or local assistance right applies to your bill. A legal collection notice has its own deadline; an assistance discussion does not pause a court deadline.
Official sources
Ask your social worker

“Could the financial counselor check which hospital bills assistance might reduce, and help us decide whether to apply?”

Why I’m asking: I want to understand what we really owe after insurance and the hospital’s assistance policy.

More background and detailed requirements
Additional program information and published rules

Who does what

The three parts, side by side. The agency decides; nobody on this page does.

You

Ask for the application, send proof of income, and do not pay or put a bill on a card while it is open.

Your social worker

The social worker connects you with the financial counselor. The counselor checks Medicaid and explains which providers the assistance covers.

The care team

Records and letters when the application asks for them.

Who decides
The hospital's financial-assistance office under its written policy
Ask the billing office
“I would like to apply under the hospital's financial assistance policy. What is the income ceiling, which providers are covered by it, and can you hold collections while it is reviewed?”

How to apply

First step: Call the hospital's financial counselor, say “financial assistance policy”, and ask for the application, the income table and the list of covered providers.

  1. Call the financial counselor and say “financial assistance policy”.
  2. Ask which providers are covered by it.
  3. Ask for a collection hold while it is reviewed.

Where it starts: Apply to the hospital; the financial counselor checks Medicaid at the same time

What to gather

  • Proof of household income (pay stubs or last tax return)
  • The insurance card and recent explanation-of-benefits statements
  • The bills or account numbers

How long: A decision within weeks of a complete application. A nonprofit hospital may not sue, report the debt or garnish wages for at least 120 days after the first bill after discharge, and holds collections while it decides.

What a yes looks like

A letter naming the discount percent and the period it covers (often 12 months). If you paid before the decision, a refund of the difference follows. Re-apply when it lapses.

What a no looks like, and the next move

“Over the income limit”: ask about the high-medical-expense branch, a prompt-pay discount and an interest-free plan. Then go to bill negotiation.

Watch out

  • Apply before paying if you can. If you already paid, apply anyway: within 240 days of the first bill after discharge, an approved application means the hospital refunds what you paid above the assistance amount ($5 or more).
  • Doctors who bill separately (anesthesia, radiology, some oncologists) may not be under the hospital's policy. Ask which providers are covered.
  • Insured families count too: some hospitals have a high-medical-expense branch that discounts at any income when bills pass a share of income.

Each hospital’s own policy

The federal rule sets the floor; each hospital’s policy sets the actual numbers. “Unknown” means the policy could not be read yet: call the number and ask.

HospitalFree care up toDiscounts up toInsured familiesFinancial counselor
Phoenix Children's · policy225% FPL400% FPLyes602-933-2000
Banner Children's at Desert · policyunknown400% FPLyes888-264-2127
Diamond Children's Medical Centerunknownunknownunknown888-264-2127

The numbers and the rules

The arcane layer, kept on purpose. Checked September 8, 2026.

What it is worth

The hospital's own bill reduced or written off entirely under its published schedule. Collections held while the application is open.

  • Discount or charity write-off — Discount or charity write-off
  • $240 (at least; a policy can allow longer) — Days to apply after the first bill after discharge
  • $120 (at least) — Days after that first bill before the hospital can sue, report the debt or garnish wages
  • $5 (refunded when $5 or more) — Refund of what you paid above the assistance amount

Legal protection: A written policy and application, published · Limits on collection actions while the application is reviewed · At a nonprofit hospital, an application filed within 240 days of the first bill after discharge must be taken (federal rule) · No lawsuit, credit reporting, wage garnishment or sale of the debt for at least 120 days after that first bill · If you already paid and the application is approved, the hospital refunds what you paid above the assistance amount ($5 or more)

What it costs the family: Free application.

The eligibility facts, as published

Tax exempt hospital for federal floor
yes
Policy specific
yes
Insured patients
often eligible; some policies add a high-medical-expense branch at any income; a children's hospital policy often reaches families at 400% of the poverty line and above
Federal 501r floor
nonprofit (tax-exempt) hospitals: application period runs to at least the 240th day after the first post-discharge bill; no extraordinary collection actions for at least 120 days after that bill; refund of amounts paid above the assistance amount when $5 or more

Decisions this site cannot make: Hospital policy eligibility

Expect friction on: Separately billing physicians · Documentation · Application deadlines

The trap: Paying first and then not applying. If you already paid and the application is approved in time, the hospital must refund what you paid above the assistance amount ($5 or more). Doctors who bill separately may not be under the hospital's policy.

What changes by state: Some states set minimum hospital discounts, including California. Your hospital sets its own assistance limits and provides a financial counselor.

Where I read this

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