Dollar For’s new report “Pointless Debt: How Oregon hospitals skirt financial assistance laws to charge patients—without increasing revenue” is out.
|
More than half of all U.S. hospitals are nonprofits. Nonprofit hospitals must have medical bill financial assistance programs to keep their tax-exempt status. These financial aid programs, also called charity care, relieve or decrease hospital bills for low and middle-income patients.
That hospital bill for $15,000. It could become $150, or even $0.
IRS code 501(r) requires hospitals to:
Each hospital runs its own financial aid program. They get to decide how patients must apply and who qualifies. Hospitals typically consider the patient’s income, the number of people in the household, and the bill’s age when deciding who qualifies. Some hospitals also look at the patient’s insurance status, county or state residency, and the size of the bill.
Dollar For believes a medical crisis shouldn’t become a financial crisis. If you go to the hospital for medical care, you have done nothing wrong, so there is nothing to “forgive.”
That’s why we talk about charity care as a medical debt financial assistance program. Your bill can be waived, written off, eliminated, or reduced by the hospital. But it doesn’t need to be forgiven.
Dollar For can help for free. Use our quick assessment tool to see if you are likely to qualify for financial assistance at your hospital. You’ll then have a choice to either apply on your own with tips from Dollar For, or have us apply on your behalf. Either way-it’s free.
Dollar For is a a US 501(c)(3) public charity, EIN 46-0889864