Federal, exists in every state
Ask the hospital to reduce your bill
Hospital financial assistance can reduce eligible bills, including some costs left after insurance.
What it is
Hospital financial assistance can reduce eligible bills, including some costs left after insurance.
Tax-exempt hospitals must publish financial-assistance policies. The hospital’s own rules decide whether assistance reduces your balance. Separate doctor bills may follow different policies, so each account needs checking.
Hospital policy
- Each hospital sets financial and documentation rules in its policy. Independently billed clinicians may not participate.
- Renown’s January 2026 policy includes insured and uninsured patients. Its standard schedule lists $0 through 200% of poverty, then copays of $50, $100, $150 and $200 across the 201–250%, 251–300%, 301–350% and 351–400% bands. Approval usually lasts six months; covered entities, services, accounts and any copay frequency need confirmation. Above 400%, unusually high medical bills can still trigger catastrophic assistance review.
- Cure 4 The Kids offers charity care, including possible help with insured balances. Its billing team can confirm the current income rules, approval period and which clinic or separate clinician bills participate. An inpatient hospital used during treatment has its own policy and must be checked separately. Patient Accounts is at 702-862-1134.
- Renown’s January 2026 catastrophic route can consider specified medical bills above 25% of annual pretax income when income exceeds 400% of poverty. Its financial counselor can confirm eligible accounts, assets, exclusions and the copay unit.
What you get
- A reduced or cleared hospital balance when the hospital approves assistance.
Separate Nevada discount
- The hospital financial counselor can confirm whether Nevada’s uninsured-inpatient discount applies to the hospital, service and bill date. Its statutory requirements are separate from the hospital’s own assistance policy.
If you decide to apply
- Ask the hospital financial counselor for its assistance application and the list of bills it covers.
- Bring current income records, insurance statements and the bills you want reviewed.
- Ask for the decision and any remaining balance in writing.
During review
- For a hospital covered by federal section 501(r), a complete assistance application submitted during the applicable application period pauses extraordinary collection actions while the hospital decides eligibility. Routine statements are not the same as those actions. The financial counselor can identify the exact accounts and confirm the hold in writing.
- Renown’s public page gives application timing of one year from the first statement or 90 days after collection placement. Its counselor at 775-982-5747 or FAP@renown.org can reconcile the policy and account-specific deadline and confirm any collection hold in writing.
Good to know
Nevada’s 30% uninsured inpatient discount is a separate, narrower rule. A payment plan changes payment dates, not the size of the bill.
Official sources
- IRS: hospital financial-assistance policies
- Cure 4 The Kids current financial-assistance policy (reviewed September 21, 2026)
- Renown current financial-assistance policy, insured balances and collections (reviewed September 21, 2026)
- Renown current financial-assistance policy, insured balances and collections (reviewed September 21, 2026)
- Renown current financial-assistance policy, insured balances and collections (reviewed September 21, 2026)
- Statewide hospital assistance minimum and the two listed providers (reviewed September 21, 2026)
- Statewide hospital assistance minimum and the two listed providers (reviewed September 21, 2026)
- Statewide hospital assistance minimum and the two listed providers (reviewed September 21, 2026)
- Statewide hospital assistance minimum and the two listed providers (reviewed September 21, 2026)
- Statewide hospital assistance minimum and the two listed providers (reviewed September 21, 2026)
- Statewide hospital assistance minimum and the two listed providers (reviewed September 21, 2026)
- Statewide hospital assistance minimum and the two listed providers (reviewed September 21, 2026)
“Could you help us apply for the hospital's financial assistance and check which bills it covers?”
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.
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