Advocates Push Hospitals to Better Publicize Charity Care Programs

A state audit of hospital financial assistance practices found that many patients who would likely qualify for charity care never learn the programs exist, often receiving standard collections notices instead of information about assistance that could have significantly reduced or eliminated their bill.

Nonprofit hospitals are generally required to maintain charity care policies as a condition of their tax-exempt status, but auditors found significant variation in how proactively hospitals informed patients of eligibility, with some facilities burying application information deep within billing statements or requiring paperwork many patients found confusing to complete without assistance.

"The policy existing on paper isn't the same as a patient actually knowing to apply for it," said a patient advocate who worked on the audit. "We found real gaps between what hospitals were legally required to offer and what patients actually understood was available to them."

Several hospital systems named in the audit have since committed to revising billing communications to more prominently feature financial assistance information and have added dedicated staff to help patients complete applications. Advocates are pushing for state legislation that would standardize disclosure requirements across all hospitals rather than relying on each system's own practices.