Nonprofit ยท Dollar For
Dollar For hospital financial assistance help
A free nonprofit service that helps you apply to a hospital for financial assistance (also called charity care) that can reduce or erase a hospital bill. It is about hospital bills, not insurance denials.
Know before you go
Dollar For prepares your application and sends it to the hospital. The page says nonprofit hospitals must offer financial assistance and that many for-profit hospitals do too, but each hospital sets its own rules, usually based on income, household size and the age of the bill. Its Frequently Asked Questions page says nonprofit hospitals must consider applications for bills under 240 days old, even in collections, and that a separate bill from a doctor who treated you at the hospital is not automatically covered. It does not appeal an insurance denial.
- Cost
- Free (the page says the organization is 100% funded by donors)
- Where
- Nationwide
- How to start
- Use the screener on the Get Help page to see if you qualify, then fill in the patient form. Dollar For works with you and the hospital after that.
- Have ready
- The hospital bill; The name of the hospital; Your household size and income information; Your insurance details, if you have insurance
Where this comes from
- Provider
- Dollar For
- Source we read
- https://dollarfor.org/help/
- Date we read it
- . This is not a fresh check.
- Date the provider printed
- Not displayed
- What we checked
- We read the provider's public page. We have not verified availability, eligibility or outcomes for any individual.
Other starting points
- Program or service
1-800-MEDICARE: talk to a person about Medicare
The Medicare phone line and live chat, open all day every day. Staff can point you to the right step for a complaint, and can pass an unresolved complaint to the Medicare Beneficiary Ombudsman.
From Medicare (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services)
- Program or service
American Cancer Society 24-hour helpline
A phone and chat line staffed around the clock by cancer information specialists who answer questions and connect you to services. It is an information and referral line, not an appeals service.
From American Cancer Society
- Program or service
An Arm and a Leg: First Aid Kit
An archive of articles and starter packs from the podcast An Arm and a Leg, including a starter pack on what to do if you are in collections for medical debt. General reporting on health care costs, not appeal steps.
From An Arm and a Leg