How do I Claim Medical Hardship for Hospital Bills?

Public and nonprofit hospitals budget to pay for patients unable to pay their bills due to financial hardship. Applying for this "charity care" requires submitting financial information that includes your income, expenses, assets and debts.

Your application can be approved for some or all of your outstanding balance, or it can be denied. You remain responsible for paying any remaining balance. Hospital charity care does not affect your other medical bills such as your doctor or ambulance.

Instructions

1

Contact your hospital's finance department for a financial aid or charity care application. Do it as soon as possible after receiving your bill, or even beforehand. Laws vary from state to state so check on charity care policies beforehand if possible. State laws in the 1960s and early 1970s prohibited hospitals with emergency rooms from turning away critically ill patients. Then in 1986, the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act required hospitals accepting Medicare and Medicaid to treat all emergency room patients regardless of ability to pay.

However, despite the federal laws some states allow hospitals to develop their own charity care policies. Other states, such as Washington, have "comprehensive charity care" legislation requiring full charity care to those whose income is equal to or below 100 percent of the federal poverty line who don't qualify for public insurance programs. (The range for families is 100 percent to 200 percent.) Prominent signs often display the hospital's charity care policy.

2

Fill out the application with as much detail as possible. You may be required to show income for you and your spouse for the past year. However, the hospital may calculate your income in two other ways: 1) the three months prior multiplied by four, or 2) the one month prior multiplied by 12. If so, use the one that's most beneficial to you.

The value of your assets (such things as savings and checking accounts, trust funds, Individual Retirement Accounts, certificates of deposit, Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) and equity in real estate (not your primary residence) must meet the charity care limits. If you own your home, it will not count against charity care eligibility limits.

Examples of asset limits are $7,500 for one person and $15,000 for a family (as of the date of the medical care). You must provide a bank statement or other financial statement to prove confirm your assets.

You must give the hospital a signed statement if you have no assets.

3

Submit the application, usually within 14 days, and wait for a response, which could be another 14 days or longer depending upon the hospital. If you receive a partial discount, you remain responsible for paying the remaining balance. If you don't pay, your discount could be canceled and the entire amount sent to a collection agency. If your application is denied, you will receive a reason for denial, payment options and appeal instructions.