Federal, exists in every state
Ask the hospital to reduce your bill
Hospital financial assistance can reduce eligible bills, including balances left after insurance.
What it is
Hospital financial assistance can reduce eligible bills, including balances left after insurance.
Tax-exempt hospitals must publish a financial-assistance policy. Having insurance does not stop you from asking for a review. A hospital bill and a separately billed doctor may have different policies.
Eligibility rules
- Tax-exempt hospital policies set eligibility and covered care. A separately billed clinician may be outside the policy.
- Income alone does not establish an award. The counselor checks the current policy, insurance route, exact income boundaries, assets, residence, covered billers and services, and approval dates. Unknown or conflicting limits need the hospital’s written answer.
What you get
- Reduced or forgiven hospital charges when the hospital’s policy covers your family.
Coverage and limits
- Florida hospital law restricts extraordinary collection actions during the required assistance review and decision. Additional holds concern specified grievances or claim appeals, insurance adjudication, good-faith bill negotiations and a payment plan you follow. Routine statements or collection contacts do not necessarily stop.
- A traceable written warning must precede that action by 30 days under the Florida rule effective July 1, 2025.
If you decide to apply
- Ask the hospital’s financial counselor for its assistance application and covered-doctor list.
- Have ready current income records, hospital bills and insurance statements, including bills already paid or sent to collections.
If you decide to apply
- Ask the financial counselor how each account and collection activity will be handled during review.
- For tax-exempt hospital facilities, federal rules generally provide a 120-day notification period and a 240-day application period from the first post-discharge bill. A complete timely assistance application requires suspension of extraordinary collection actions. These periods are different from assistance approval dates and do not extend a court deadline.
Good to know
A payment plan changes when you pay. Financial assistance can change how much you owe.
Other details
- Florida’s itemized-bill and collection rules are explained in the separate hospital billing card.
- If your child has Medicaid, a remaining bill first needs a coverage and billing review. A denied claim does not automatically become a family debt. Assistance can then address legally payable uncovered balances or earlier bills.
Official sources
- IRS: hospital financial-assistance policies
- www.leg.state.fl.us — reviewed source
- www.irs.gov — reviewed source
- www.consumerfinance.gov — reviewed source
- www.nemours.org — reviewed source
- res.cloudinary.com — reviewed source
- healthcare.ascension.org — reviewed source
- orlandohealth.getbynder.com — reviewed source
- www.hopkinsmedicine.org — reviewed source
- baycare.org — reviewed source
- www.nicklauschildrens.org — reviewed source
- ufhealth.org — reviewed source
“Would the hospital’s financial assistance fit our current income and bills, and what would a review involve?”
Why I’m asking: I want the hospital to check our current income and patient bills before we agree to a payment plan.
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.
- Call the financial counselor and say “financial assistance policy”.
- Ask which providers are covered by it.
- 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.
| Hospital | Free care up to | Discounts up to | Insured families | Financial counselor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nemours Children's Hospital, Florida · policy | 250% FPL | 300% FPL | yes | 844-551-2065 |
| Nemours Children's Health, Jacksonville · policy | 250% FPL | 300% FPL | yes | 844-551-2065 |
| Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital · policy | unknown | unknown | yes | 1-855-662-3017 |
| Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital · policy | 200% FPL | 400% FPL | yes | 954-276-5760 |
| Nicklaus Children's Hospital · policy | 200% FPL | unknown | unknown | 888-538-3036 |
| Orlando Health Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children · policy | unknown | unknown | yes | 321-843-8955 |
| Wolfson Children's Hospital · policy | 200% FPL | 400% FPL | yes | 904-202-2092 |
| Studer Family Children's Hospital at Ascension Sacred Heart · policy | 250% FPL | unknown | yes | 866-869-9677 |
| Golisano Children's Hospital of Southwest Florida · policy | unknown | unknown | unknown | 239-481-4111 |
| St. Joseph's Children's Hospital · policy | unknown | 250% FPL | yes | 855-233-1555 |
| UF Health Shands Children's Hospital · policy | unknown | unknown | unknown | unknown |
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
- Financial Assistance Policies for Tax-Exempt Hospitals — Internal Revenue Service, read August 27, 2026
- 26 CFR 1.501(r)-1: Definitions (financial assistance application period) — GovInfo (CFR 2025), read September 8, 2026
- 26 CFR 1.501(r)-6 and -7: Billing and collections; effective dates — GovInfo (CFR 2025), read September 8, 2026
- IRS: Billing and collections — section 501(r)(6) — Internal Revenue Service, read September 8, 2026