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

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Georgia program

Help with hospital bills and financial assistance

The hospital can check financial assistance and itemized charges, even when your child has insurance.

What it is

The hospital can check financial assistance and itemized charges, even when your child has insurance.

Doctors who bill separately have their own policies, so ask the counselor which bills the hospital's policy covers.

Eligibility rules
  • At participating Indigent Care Trust Fund hospitals, care is free below 125% of poverty. Free or sliding-scale care applies from 125% through at least 200%.
  • The billing office can confirm current Indigent Care Trust Fund participation for the exact legal facility and account. Its own financial-assistance policy is a separate question. Participation must be established before the state free-care floor can be applied.
  • Children's Healthcare of Atlanta cancels the whole balance for families up to 400% of poverty, three quarters of it up to 500%, and half up to 600%, including families with insurance, once the balance is over about $500. A transplant needs a separate approval.
  • Atrium/Navicent’s July 2026 enterprise policy gives uninsured families full assistance through 300% of poverty and 75% off gross charges at 301–400%, subject to the amounts-generally-billed cap.
  • For insured Atrium/Navicent patients through 300%, eligible patient responsibility can be fully covered under network and service conditions. The uninsured 301–400% band does not extend to insured patients.
  • At Children's Hospital of Georgia in Augusta, ask the billing office for the assistance policy that covers your account; Wellstar's general terms may not be the ones that apply.
  • Memorial Savannah’s billing office must confirm its local policy, income bands, insured-balance rules, covered bills and deadline. An emergency-care percentage or another hospital’s policy does not establish a general cap on your bills. Its current account also needs its own policy rather than the nonprofit predecessor’s terms.
What you get
  • Free or discounted hospital care under the policy that covers your child’s account.
  • An itemized inpatient statement within six business days after discharge.
  • Help identifying which bills, services and special approvals fall within the hospital’s assistance policy.
What the help includes
  • Georgia’s surprise-billing rules cover specified insured and public plans, plus self-funded plans with a valid state-law opt-in. Federal No Surprises protections apply separately to covered services. Neither generally covers ground-ambulance charges.
  • Atrium/Navicent offers hardship review when the remaining account balance exceeds 10% of annual income. This is a review trigger, not a cap on all family medical spending. The counselor checks the accounts and other conditions.
If you decide to apply
  1. Ask the hospital financial counselor for the assistance application and the policy covering the exact account.
  2. Have ready: income proof, insurance statements and bills from the hospital and separately billing doctors.
  3. Ask billing for an itemized statement and whether the hospital participates in the Indigent Care Trust Fund.

Hospital financial counseling; Georgia Attorney General: 800-869-1123; OCI: 800-656-2298; DCH Health Planning: 404-656-0409

After you ask
  • Atrium/Navicent gives 240 days after the first post-discharge bill for a financial-assistance application. Insured approval covers current bills, while uninsured approval also covers 180 future days.
  • CHOA accepts financial-assistance requests before, during or after care. Its assistance line is 404-785-5515, and Medicaid financial counselors are at 404-785-5060.
  • Wellstar MCG financial counseling is 706-721-3576. The Wellstar system assistance line, 470-245-9998, can be asked which policy governs the account.
  • Memorial Savannah’s switchboard, 912-350-8000, can route to Patient Financial Services. Its published pricing/financial line is 800-370-1983.
Good to know

A hospital discount may leave separately billed doctors’ charges untouched. The counselor can identify which groups the policy includes.

Other details
  • A lawyer can check the agreement, dates and legal classification of a medical debt. Court papers have their own response deadline. A billing discussion does not pause it.
  • Georgia does not stop a hospital debt from going on your credit report. If one appears, a legal-aid lawyer can check whether it is accurate and help you dispute it.
  • CHOA’s assistance line is 404-785-5515. It offers review for certain remaining balances above 5% of household income. The counselor confirms the separate catastrophic-discount terms, application deadline and approval duration. Navicent uses Atrium’s enterprise assistance program at 844-440-6536, rather than a Macon-only line. Memorial’s local billing office confirms its dedicated assistance contact and deadline.
  • A financial-assistance review does not automatically stop every collection step or separate bill. Tax-exempt hospitals have federal restrictions on extraordinary collection actions. Atrium’s July 14, 2026 policy also pauses the specified collection process for timely pending assistance accounts and disallows listed extraordinary actions. The counselor can confirm the hold, end date and included bills in writing.
  • For care outside Georgia, the receiving hospital’s counselor checks its policy, bills and deadlines. Georgia residency does not make Georgia hospital rules or CHOA income bands apply to that account. Earlier Georgia bills need their own review.

Federal background: Hospital financial assistance. Nonprofit hospitals have federal policy duties; Memorial Savannah is for-profit.

Official sources
Ask your social worker

“Could the hospital reduce our share of the bill, and which separate doctors would be outside its policy? What are the benefits and drawbacks of requesting assistance, and would you help us if you recommend it?”

Why I’m asking: I want to understand the bill and every assistance option before deciding how to pay it.

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 itemized bill and the assistance form. Keep every statement. Answer any lawsuit.

Your social worker

The social worker points you to financial counseling and names the separately billing groups.

The care team

Records and letters when the application asks for them.

Who decides
The hospital's billing office. Georgia's insurance regulator and the Attorney General enforce
Ask the billing office
“Can you send the itemized bill and tell me whether this hospital participates in the Indigent Care Trust Fund? Which physician groups bill separately?”

How to apply

First step: Ask billing for the itemized statement (due within 6 business days of discharge) and for the hospital's financial-assistance application before paying anything.

  1. Ask for the itemized statement and the financial-assistance application before paying anything.
  2. Answer any lawsuit.

Where it starts: Ask billing in writing; complaints to the Attorney General (800-869-1123), OCI (800-656-2298), DCH Office of Health Planning (404-656-0409)

What to gather

  • Every bill and insurance statement
  • The signed admission agreement
  • Income proof for the assistance application

How long: Itemized statement within 6 business days of discharge. Assistance decisions follow the hospital's policy.

What a yes looks like

An itemized bill that matches the insurance statement, an assistance decision in writing, and surprise bills repriced to in-network.

What a no looks like, and the next move

For billing violations, call the Attorney General's consumer division: 800-869-1123. For a Georgia-issued plan, call the insurance regulator: 800-656-2298. For the hospital's charity-care commitment, call the Department of Community Health's Office of Health Planning: 404-656-0409.

Watch out

  • The state free-care rules apply only to hospitals in the Indigent Care Trust Fund. The current-year participant list was not found for CHOA, Wellstar MCG, Navicent or Memorial Savannah (2026-09-08), so ask the counselor whether yours participates and for your household's limit.
  • Surprise-billing protection under Georgia's own law covers state-regulated plans. A self-funded plan is protected by the federal No Surprises Act instead (lead with that).
  • A lawsuit on an unpaid bill has 4 years for an open account, or 6 years for a signed contract. Answer any suit. Georgia has no enacted medical-debt credit-reporting law.

The numbers and the rules

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

What it is worth

Itemized inpatient bill within 6 business days. Free care below 125% FPL at ICTF hospitals. Hospital liens never reach the family's property. In-network cost sharing for surprise bills on Georgia plans.

  • $125 (below. Sliding scale from 125% to at least 200%) — ICTF free-care floor
  • $6 — Itemized inpatient statement

Legal protection: The hospital must give an itemized inpatient statement within six business days of discharge. · Free care below 125% FPL and free or sliding-scale care at 125-200% FPL at Indigent Care Trust Fund hospitals (Rule 111-3-6-.03) · Hospital and physician liens attach only to an injury lawsuit, never to the family's property. · Surprise Billing Consumer Protection Act (33-20E) for state-regulated plans. Federal No Surprises Act for the rest · Limitations: 4 years on an open account, 6 years on a written contract

What it costs the family: None.

The eligibility facts, as published

Any hospital bill
yes
Ictf floor
Participating hospitals only: free care below 125% FPL; free or sliding-scale care at 125–200% FPL.
Surprise billing state law
state-regulated plans only (ERISA plans unless opted in under 33-20F)

Expect friction on: ICTF participation varies · Physicians bill separately

The trap: The state free-care rules apply only to hospitals in the Indigent Care Trust Fund. The current-year participant list was not found for the four children's cancer programs, so ask the counselor whether yours participates and for your household's limit.

Where I read this

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