FairMedicalBills is an independent consumer information website about medical bills. We explain hospital charity care and financial assistance, how to check a bill for errors, what surprise billing protections cover, how medical debt and collections work, and when a refund may be owed back to you.
Why this site exists
Most hospitals are required to have a financial assistance policy, and many people who qualify never apply — because the policy is buried in a PDF, the income limits are not obvious, or nobody mentioned it at the point of care. Meanwhile a large share of medical bills contain errors, and protections that already exist in law go unused simply because patients do not know about them.
We read those policies and rules and set out what they actually say: who qualifies, what income limits apply, what documents are needed, how to apply, and where to complain if something is wrong.
The Hospital Directory
Our directory collects financial assistance information for individual hospitals and health systems — eligibility, income guidelines where they are published, how to apply, the application form, and a link to the hospital’s own policy document. Each entry shows the date we last checked it, because these policies change.
What we are not
We are not a hospital, health system, insurance company, medical provider, government agency, law firm or debt settlement company. We do not process financial assistance applications, decide eligibility, negotiate on your behalf, or change what you owe.
Nothing here is individualised legal, medical or financial advice. We do not promise that any bill can be reduced or forgiven, because that is not ours to promise.
How we work
Wherever possible we work from primary sources: the hospital’s own financial assistance policy and application, state and federal rules, and agency guidance. Every article links to the source so you can verify it and deal with the hospital or agency directly.
Our sourcing and corrections process is described in our Editorial Policy.
Contact
Corrections are especially welcome — if a hospital’s policy, income limit or application link has changed, tell us through our contact page and we will check it.