Delaware program
Delaware’s future hospital assistance minimum
A Delaware law sets minimum discounts for eligible families’ hospital bills.
What it is
A Delaware law sets minimum discounts for eligible families’ hospital bills.
Delaware’s minimum hospital discounts begin January 1, 2027. Your hospital’s existing policy can offer help before then. The financial counselor can explain which rules cover your bill.
What you get
- From January 1, 2027, full write-off at or below 300% of the federal poverty level.
- From that date, at least 75% off above 300% through 350%, and at least 50% off above 350% through 400%.
What the help includes
- From January 1, 2027, the hardship route must allow an income ceiling of at least 500% of poverty and at least a 50% reduction when qualifying out-of-pocket expense for a hospital visit reaches 10% of annual household income. The hospital determines which income and expenses count.
- Eligible insured families can receive help with qualifying patient responsibility, including deductibles, coinsurance and copays. The hospital identifies the covered visit, income period and assistance rule.
If you decide to apply
- Ask the hospital financial counselor which assistance policy currently covers your bill.
- Have annual household income and hospital out-of-pocket spending ready.
- Ask the financial counselor which assistance rules cover the date and services on your bill.
Hospital financial counselor · Official page ↗
What happens next
- If assistance is granted under the applicable policy, the written decision records the reduction on the account.
Good to know
Current hospital assistance and the January 2027 state minimum are separate routes. Other provisions of the new law have a different start rule.
Other details
- From January 2027 every Delaware hospital must cancel the bill for families under 300% of poverty and give at least 75% off up to 350% and 50% off up to 400%. Until then, the hospital's own policy applies.
Official sources
“Which hospital assistance rules cover our bill, and will the January 2027 minimum change the review? What are the benefits and limits, and could you help us request help if appropriate?”
Why I’m asking: I want a decision under the policy that actually applies to our bill.
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
Apply under the hospital’s current policy now, and ask to be told when the state floor starts.
Your social worker
The financial counsellor knows whether the hospital is applying the new standards yet.
The care team
Records and letters when the application asks for them.
- Who decides
- The hospital, once the standards are in force.
- Ask the billing office
- “Have Delaware’s minimum hospital financial assistance standards started yet, and if they have, can our bill be reconsidered under them?”
How to apply
First step: Ask the hospital financial counsellor whether Delaware’s minimum standards have started, and apply under the hospital’s own policy in the meantime.
- Apply under the hospital’s own current policy now.
- Ask the counsellor to tell you if and when the state standards start, and reapply then.
Official application / program page ↗
Where it starts: Ask the hospital financial counsellor whether the Delaware minimum standards have started.
What to gather
- Household income for the year
- Everything you have paid out of pocket for hospital care
How long: Section 9962(a)–(b) minimum hospital discounts begin January 1, 2027. Other provisions begin on the earlier of the designated final-regulation notice in the Delaware Register or July 1, 2027. The hospital confirms which provisions currently cover a bill.
What a yes looks like
A written reduction or write-off applied to the account.
What a no looks like, and the next move
If the answer is that the law is not running yet, that is correct today. Ask for the hospital’s own policy instead.
Watch out
- It is not running today. Apply under the hospital’s own policy now.
- Section 9962(a)–(b) minimum hospital discounts begin January 1, 2027. Other provisions begin on the earlier of the designated final-regulation notice in the Delaware Register or July 1, 2027. The hospital confirms which provisions currently cover a bill.
- The hardship route counts deductibles and coinsurance, so an insured family is not excluded by definition.
Dates that change this
2027-01-01: Section 9962(a)–(b) minimum hospital discounts begin January 1, 2027. Other provisions begin on the earlier of the designated final-regulation notice in the Delaware Register or July 1, 2027. The hospital confirms which provisions currently cover a bill. (not yet confirmed against the final rule)
The numbers and the rules
The arcane layer, kept on purpose. Checked September 11, 2026.
What it is worth
When it starts: full write-off at or below 300 percent of the poverty line, at least 75 percent off to 350 and at least 50 percent off to 400, with a hardship route no lower than 500.
- $300 — Full assistance ceiling, as a share of the federal poverty level
- $75 — Minimum reduction between 300 and 350 percent of the poverty level
- $50 — Minimum reduction between 350 and 400 percent of the poverty level
- $500 — Lowest a hospital may set its medical hardship ceiling
- $10 — Medical hardship trigger, as a share of annual household income
Legal protection: Patient responsibility is defined to include copayments, coinsurance and deductibles, so an insured patient is not excluded by definition
What it costs the family: None.
The eligibility facts, as published
- Status
- Section 9962(a)–(b) minimum discounts begin January 1, 2027. Other provisions begin on the earlier of the designated final-regulation notice in the Delaware Register or July 1, 2027.
- Hospitals
- a hospital that provides exclusively psychiatric, rehabilitative or long-term acute care is outside the definition
The trap: Do not apply under this law today and be told no. Until the start date is settled, the thing to apply for is the hospital’s own written policy, which exists now.
Where I read this
- Delaware Code, Title 16, §§ 9961-9962 — Hospital financial assistance — Delaware General Assembly, read September 10, 2026