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

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Oregon program

Reduce your hospital bills (financial assistance)

Oregon requires nonprofit hospitals to reduce eligible bills for necessary care based on family income.

What it is

Oregon requires nonprofit hospitals to reduce eligible bills for necessary care based on family income.

Hospital financial assistance can reduce what remains after insurance. Oregon sets minimum discounts for necessary care at nonprofit hospitals and their nonprofit affiliated clinics. The hospital checks your income, household and which charges its policy covers.

Eligibility rules
  • The law applies to medically necessary services and supplies. Insured patients' unreimbursed costs are included.
  • Which hospital and billing entity provided the care matters. OHSU and Legacy both publish assistance policies. Separate physician, pharmacy, dental and other bills may follow different rules. The counselor can identify the policy for each bill.
What you get
  • 100% relief at or below 200% of poverty for eligible bills.
  • At least 75% relief above 200% through 300%, and 50% above 300% through 350%.
  • At least 25% relief above 350% through 400% of poverty.
  • Possible refunds for eligible bills already paid.
What the help includes
  • A short deadline on an old form should not end the conversation. The current Oregon notice rule provides at least 240 days from the first bill or 12 months after a patient payment to seek assistance; the hospital may allow longer.
  • An approval usually lasts a year at OHSU; ask Legacy for its period in writing. An award from the last nine months is applied to new bills automatically.
  • Both OHSU and Legacy give full help up to 300% of poverty. Between 300% and 400%, Legacy takes 75% off and OHSU takes 65% off what insurance leaves.
If you decide to apply
  1. Ask the social worker or financial counselor which hospital-assistance review could help. If you decide to request it, the counselor can explain the form and automatic screening.
  2. Have income information, insurance statements, bills and payment dates ready. An older bill or payment does not by itself end the assistance conversation.

OHSU Patient Financial Services: 503-494-8551. Legacy financial-assistance line: 1-800-495-7076. · Official page ↗

After you ask
  • Screening and applicable assistance come before billing under the statutory process.
  • The written decision identifies the discount and covered period. OHSU pauses collection during an assistance appeal. Each hospital confirms its application and appeal collection rules in writing; a court deadline is separate.
Good to know

A separate doctor's bill may follow a different policy. The law covers nonprofit hospitals and their nonprofit affiliated clinics.

Other details
  • Hospitals must screen you for assistance automatically when you are uninsured, on OHP, or owe more than $1,500 for one visit after insurance.
  • A full application remains available even after automatic screening. OHSU Patient Financial Services is at 503-494-8551; Legacy offers a MyHealth application and financial counselors, with its plain-language assistance line at 1-800-495-7076. Ask the counselor to identify the covered billing entities and written approval period. OHSU’s own published assistance policy applies; its public-institution status should not be used to imply that families cannot receive assistance.

Federal background: Hospital financial assistance.

Official sources
Ask your social worker

“Could the hospital reduce our share of treatment bills, including anything already paid? What would the assistance cover or leave out, and could you help with a review if it makes sense?”

Why I’m asking: I want to understand the hospital discount before deciding how to pay a 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

Ask for the screening in writing and give the income documents once.

Your social worker

The financial counselor screens you and applies the discount before billing.

The care team

Records and letters when the application asks for them.

Who decides
The hospital, against the statutory schedule.
Ask the billing office
“Please screen us for financial assistance under Oregon law before you send the bill, and send me the written decision and the percentage applied.”

How to apply

First step: Ask the hospital's financial counselor for the statutory screening and the written decision.

  1. Ask the financial counselor for the screening and the written financial assistance decision.
  2. If a bill arrived before any screening, say so: the hospital has to screen first.
  3. If you choose to seek assistance on a paid bill, ask the counselor about the minimum application window and any eligible refund.

Official application / program page ↗

Where it starts: Ask the hospital's financial counselor for the screening and the application in writing. OHSU: 503-494-8551. Legacy: 503-413-4048.

What to gather

  • Proof of household income
  • Every bill, including ones already paid in the last 12 months
  • Your insurance statements showing what was not paid

How long: The current rule requires an application opportunity of at least 240 days from the first bill or 12 months after a patient payment. A documented award within the prior nine months must be reused in prescreening. OHSU approvals generally last 365 days; Legacy confirms its current approval duration.

What a yes looks like

A written decision naming the percentage taken off and the months it covers.

What a no looks like, and the next move

A written decision should explain the income and policy used. The counselor can review appeal rights and the account’s hold status; court deadlines need their own response.

Watch out

  • Under the current rule effective July 1, 2026, independent prescreening triggers are no insurance, state medical assistance, or more than $1,500 owed for one encounter after other payers. Prescreening does not replace the right to a full application.
  • It binds nonprofit hospitals and their nonprofit clinics, not every provider who bills you.
  • The current rule requires an application opportunity of at least 240 days from the first bill or 12 months after a patient payment. A documented award within the prior nine months must be reused in prescreening. OHSU approvals generally last 365 days; Legacy confirms its current approval duration.

Dates that change this

2026-07-01: Under the current rule effective July 1, 2026, independent prescreening triggers are no insurance, state medical assistance, or more than $1,500 owed for one encounter after other payers. Prescreening does not replace the right to a full application.

The numbers and the rules

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

What it is worth

The whole bill written off at or under twice the poverty level; at least 75% off to three times, 50% to three and a half, and 25% to four times.

  • $100 — Reduction at or under 200% of the poverty guidelines
  • $75 — Minimum reduction above 200% through 300%
  • $50 — Minimum reduction above 300% through 350%
  • $25 — Minimum reduction above 350% through 400%
  • $1,500 — Single-encounter debt trigger: strictly more than this amount; current rule effective July 1, 2026
  • $12 — Minimum application opportunity after a patient payment, not a maximum cutoff
  • $9 — Prior documented award look-back for prescreening reuse, not universal approval duration

Legal protection: Hospitals must perform required prescreening before billing; a family may still submit a full financial-assistance application. · An insured patient's unreimbursed cost counts as the patient's cost · A hospital may not use information other than the listed information to refuse assistance · OHSU’s policy pauses collection during an assistance appeal; the counselor confirms the applicable hold at another hospital.

What it costs the family: Nothing to apply.

The eligibility facts, as published

Hospital
nonprofit hospitals and their nonprofit affiliated clinics; federal and state hospital campuses excluded
Services
all medically necessary services or supplies
Income
household income against the federal poverty guidelines, on the published 200 / 300 / 350 / 400 percent schedule
Insured
included; the law reaches the part of the bill insurance did not pay

Decisions this site cannot make: The hospital's screening and financial assistance decision

The trap: The screening trigger changed on April 7, 2026 from $500 to more than $1,500 for one encounter. Some hospital handouts still print $500. Either way, ask for the screening in writing; the hospital has to do it before it sends the bill.

Where I read this

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