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

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Louisiana program

Reduce your hospital bills (financial assistance)

Louisiana law gives families access to an itemized hospital statement, and hospital policies offer a separate assistance route.

What it is

Louisiana law gives families access to an itemized hospital statement, and hospital policies offer a separate assistance route.

An itemized bill lets you see which services were charged. The hospital financial counselor can also review its assistance policy. Insurance coverage does not by itself answer whether a hospital discount is available.

Eligibility rules
  • The itemized-statement rule covers hospitals licensed by the Louisiana Department of Health.
  • Federal section 501(r) safeguards apply facility by facility to 501(c)(3) hospitals.
  • The LSU admission statute concerns general hospitals owned or operated by the LSU board.
  • Louisiana’s itemized-bill right is separate from financial assistance. The LSU admission law does not set one discount schedule for every Louisiana hospital. For the hospitals listed here, the financial counselor must check that hospital’s policy and any other protection that applies to your bill.
What you get
  • At Louisiana-licensed hospitals, an itemized statement is available within 10 business days after discharge.
  • An interim itemized statement on request.
  • A review under the hospital’s own financial-assistance policy.
What the help covers
  • At covered nonprofit facilities, at least 120 days from the first post-discharge bill precede extraordinary collection action. The assistance application period lasts at least 240 days from that bill.
  • Each hospital has its own policy, and doctors who bill separately may have another. Ask the counselor which accounts an approval covers.
  • Ochsner’s policy effective January 1, 2025 provides free care at or below 200% of poverty. Assistance can include an insured patient’s remaining charges. Transplants are ordinarily excluded and out-of-network care is restricted, with case-by-case exceptions.
  • Above 200% of poverty, Ochsner can still consider help for a catastrophic illness; ask. Ochsner says it does not sue patients or report medical debt to credit bureaus.
  • Manning gives free care to families with income up to about 250% of poverty, and takes 75% off the bill from there to 400%. It also looks at savings and expects you to use any insurance first.
  • Above those bands, Manning has a hardship route when a year’s medical bills come to roughly a fifth or more of your income. Ask the counselor to run it.
  • Our Lady of the Lake helps uninsured families with income up to 275% of poverty. Above that, if a year’s medical bills reach a fifth of your income, it can cut what you owe to a tenth of your income.
  • If your child has insurance, ask Our Lady of the Lake’s counselor in writing whether its assistance covers what the insurance leaves you; the hospital’s own pages give two answers.
If you decide to apply
  1. Ask the hospital billing office for the itemized statement and financial-assistance application.
  2. Have statements, admission and discharge dates, insurance explanations and income information ready.

Manning: 504-702-4862; Ochsner: 504-842-4190; Our Lady of the Lake: 225-765-7921. The hospital billing office can connect you with its financial counselor.

After you apply
  • Ochsner approvals generally cover 90 days; Manning and the Lake generally allow six months, with policy-specific limits and rechecks. Presumptive or encounter-specific decisions may differ. The counselor can match each bill to the covered-clinician list and approval dates.
  • Manning accepts assistance applications up to 240 days after the first post-discharge statement. The Lake promises a written decision within 30 days of a complete application.
Good to know

The assistance rules belong to the hospital’s policy. A hospital bill and a separate doctor’s bill may need different reviews.

Other details
  • A bill, collection notice and court paper are different. The financial counselor can check assistance and which collection steps are paused. A legal notice may still have its own deadline. Federal nonprofit-hospital safeguards do not pause every routine bill or collection contact.
  • Since June 2026 Louisiana caps interest on medical debt at 3% a year. Paying a hospital with a credit card loses that protection.
  • The Act provides attorney-general enforcement and a complaint process. It does not itself erase debt, pause lawsuits, prohibit credit reporting or protect against garnishment or liens. A hospital’s financial-assistance policy and federal nonprofit-hospital safeguards are separate.
  • For care outside Louisiana, the treating hospital’s jurisdiction and own assistance policy control. The social worker can identify the facility, separate clinicians and coverage approvals. Louisiana hospital-income bands do not establish help at an out-of-state hospital.

Federal background: Hospital financial assistance and nonprofit-hospital collection safeguards.

Official sources
Ask your social worker

“Could you help me understand the hospital’s charges and assistance policy? What are the benefits and limits of applying, and could you help us if it is worthwhile?”

Why I’m asking: I want to understand the bill and any help available before making payment arrangements.

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 in writing and keep every statement with its date.

Your social worker

The hospital financial counsellor prints the statement and opens the assistance application.

The care team

Records and letters when the application asks for them.

Who decides
The hospital billing office; the hospital's own policy decides any discount.
Ask the billing office
“Please send an itemized statement of billed services for this admission, and start a financial assistance application at the same time.”

How to apply

First step: Ask the billing office in writing for an itemized statement before you pay or agree to anything.

  1. Ask the billing office in writing for an itemized statement before paying anything.
  2. Apply for the hospital's own financial assistance; there is no statewide rule to fall back on.
  3. At a nonprofit hospital, name the 240-day application window if you are told it is too late.

Where it starts: Ask the billing office in writing for the itemized statement, then apply for the hospital's own financial assistance.

What to gather

  • Every statement, with the date it arrived
  • The admission and discharge dates
  • Your insurance explanation of benefits

How long: Ten business days for the itemized statement.

What a yes looks like

A line-by-line statement you can check against the dates your child was actually there.

What a no looks like, and the next move

If the office refuses, put the request in writing and cite the ten-business-day rule.

Watch out

  • The hospital’s policy and other applicable law must be checked. An incomplete statewide search does not prove that no additional financial protection exists.
  • The one state charity statute covers hospitals run by the LSU board, which is not where most children are treated.
  • At a nonprofit hospital you have 240 days from the first statement to apply for assistance. Name that date if you are told it is too late.

If they say no, quote this: R.S. 40:2010: not later than ten business days after discharge each licensed Louisiana hospital shall have available an itemized statement of billed services, with an interim statement on request.

The numbers and the rules

The arcane layer, kept on purpose. Checked September 11, 2026.

What it is worth

An itemized statement of billed services within ten business days of discharge, and an interim statement whenever you ask.

  • $10 — Business days after discharge by which an itemized statement must be available
  • $120 — Days a nonprofit hospital must wait before extraordinary collection action (federal)
  • $240 — Days to apply for a nonprofit hospital's financial assistance (federal)

Legal protection: An itemized statement of billed services within ten business days of discharge · An interim statement on request by the patient or an authorised agent · At a nonprofit hospital, at least 120 days before extraordinary collection and 240 days to apply for assistance

What it costs the family: None.

The eligibility facts, as published

Itemized statement
every hospital licensed by the Louisiana Department of Health
Lsu provision
R.S. 46:6 is an admission right at general hospitals owned or operated by the LSU board, not an all-hospital discount rule
Federal
section 501(r) applies facility by facility at 501(c)(3) hospitals
Unknowns
A universal hospital charity schedule and complete inventory of other state debt protections remain unresolved. Act 897 supplies the verified 3% annual interest cap on qualifying debt, effective June 9, 2026, with creditor exclusions; it is not a reporting ban or general lawsuit stay.

The trap: The LSU statute concerns general hospitals owned or operated by the LSU board. Other hospitals have their own assistance policies, and the financial counselor checks those policies alongside any applicable legal protection.

Where I read this

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