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

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Wyoming program

Help reducing a hospital bill (financial assistance)

A hospital's financial assistance policy can reduce or cancel eligible treatment bills.

What it is

A hospital's financial assistance policy can reduce or cancel eligible treatment bills.

Hospital assistance is worth discussing even when a child has insurance. The hospital's own policy decides which bills and income levels qualify. Federal rules add protections at hospitals with charitable tax status, including an application period after billing begins.

Who this can help
  • The federal charitable-hospital rules do not apply to every hospital.
  • The treating hospital's policy controls the bills, income, residency and any asset rules. A Wyoming address does not automatically qualify a family for Colorado's resident assistance, and a hospital discount may not cover separately billed clinicians.
  • Your social worker can help the treating hospital check its current policy for insured families and large bills. A legal adviser can check which state protections apply; the hospital’s location and the type of bill matter.
What you get
  • A reduced or canceled bill if the hospital's policy covers your circumstances.
  • A written assistance policy and an application at a charitable hospital.
What the help includes
  • At a charitable hospital covered by the federal rule, the financial-assistance application period lasts at least 240 days from the first bill after discharge; a later required deadline can extend it.
  • A hospital covered by section 501(r) generally cannot begin extraordinary collection actions during the first 120 days after the first post-discharge bill. It must also provide the required written warning at least 30 days before an action, an assistance summary and a reasonable oral-notification effort. Later applicable deadlines still control.
  • A timely assistance application can pause extraordinary actions such as a lawsuit, garnishment or adverse credit reporting. A complete application must be decided, and an incomplete one requires notice of missing information and a reasonable chance to finish it. This is not a promise that every bill or collection contact stops, or that a court deadline is paused; your social worker can help ask what action is on hold and until when.
  • Children's Hospital Colorado's main discount is for Colorado residents; a Wyoming family is considered under its emergency and discretionary rules, and its 251% to 400% band covers inpatient care only. Doctors who bill separately may be outside the policy.
  • Primary Children's in Salt Lake City: full help up to 250% of poverty, then discounts of 95% down to 75% in steps up to 500%. Above that, a bill larger than a quarter of your yearly income can be reviewed as hardship. Approval lasts 12 months.
  • Above 500% of poverty, Intermountain can consider hardship when qualifying obligations to the system exceed 25% of annual income. Approval generally lasts 12 months, with relevant changes reported. Independent doctors, ambulance and private nursing are not automatically included.
  • Billings Clinic’s financial counselor must confirm the current income and asset schedule, eligible bills and approval period. The posted July 2026 policy needs to be checked before relying on the amounts in a preliminary screen.
If you decide to apply
  1. Ask the treating hospital's financial counselor for its assistance policy and application.
  2. Gather the bills, the first bill's date and proof of household income.
  3. Ask the billing office in writing whether collections will pause while it reviews your request.

Treating hospital: financial counselor or billing office · Official page ↗

After you ask
  • The hospital gives a written decision explaining a reduction or cancellation.
  • If it refuses, you can ask which policy provision it used and whether large bills qualify under another provision.
  • Children's Colorado looks back at bills from the previous 365 days when it approves help; ask its billing office for the current copay table.
Good to know

An out-of-state hospital uses its own policy. A Wyoming address does not set that hospital's discount.

Other details
  • Wyoming's general court-judgment interest rate is 10 percent a year, with exceptions including an agreed contractual rate. This is not a cap on every medical bill; a legal-aid adviser can check the bill, any court papers and which state's law applies.
  • For the applicable Wyoming court-collection process, the garnishment limit is generally the lesser of 25% of disposable earnings or earnings above 30 times the federal minimum hourly wage. Exemptions, procedure and the law governing an out-of-state bill need legal review. A court-response deadline is separate from a hospital assistance request.
  • Credit reporting can be an extraordinary collection action under federal hospital rules. Those rules do not ban it outright.

Federal background: Charitable hospitals must have financial assistance and billing policies under section 501(r).

Official sources
Ask your social worker

“Could the treating hospital reduce our share of the bills, and which charges would its policy cover? Could you help us request assistance and understand what happens to collections?”

Why I’m asking: I want to understand the hospital's help before deciding how to handle treatment bills.

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 policy and the form in writing, and keep the date of the first bill.

Your social worker

The financial counsellor gives you the policy and helps with the application.

The care team

Records and letters when the application asks for them.

Who decides
The hospital's billing office.
Ask the billing office
“Please send me your written financial assistance policy and application, and hold collections while it is being decided. What date was the first bill after discharge?”

How to apply

First step: Ask the billing office for the written assistance policy and the application before paying anything.

  1. Ask the billing office for the written policy and the application before you pay anything.
  2. Ask in writing for collections to be paused while the application is decided.
  3. If your child is treated out of state, ask for that hospital's policy, because Wyoming's rules do not reach it.

Official application / program page ↗

Where it starts: Ask for the written financial assistance policy and the application, and ask for collections to be paused while it is decided.

What to gather

  • Every bill and the date of the first one after discharge
  • Proof of household income
  • Any written refusal

How long: The federal periods are 120 days for notification and 240 days for applying, from the first bill after discharge.

What a yes looks like

A written decision reducing or cancelling the bill.

What a no looks like, and the next move

Ask which part of the policy was used and whether a large-bill route exists at that hospital.

Watch out

  • Wyoming sets no income line of its own, so everything turns on that hospital's schedule.
  • Credit reporting is treated as an aggressive step but is not banned; ask for collections to be paused in writing.
  • If your child is treated out of state, it is that hospital's policy that applies.

The numbers and the rules

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

What it is worth

Federal periods you can use: 120 days in which the hospital must tell you about its policy, and 240 days to apply.

  • $120 — Days from the first bill after discharge in which a nonprofit hospital must notify you of its policy
  • $240 — Days from the first bill after discharge in which you can apply for assistance
  • $10 — Yearly interest on a money judgment under the general Wyoming rule
  • $25 — Largest share of disposable weekly earnings that a continuing garnishment can take

Legal protection: A written financial assistance policy at a nonprofit hospital, with published notification and application periods · A general garnishment limit: the lesser of a quarter of disposable weekly earnings or the amount above thirty times the federal minimum wage

What it costs the family: None to ask.

The eligibility facts, as published

Scope
the federal rules bind hospital organisations that hold or seek charitable status, not every hospital merely by being in a place
Timing
the notification and application periods run from the first bill after discharge

The trap: Adverse credit reporting is treated as an aggressive collection step under the federal rules, but it is not banned outright. Do not assume a bill cannot reach your credit file; ask for collections to be paused in writing while an application is being decided.

Where I read this

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