Charity Care in WA State Hospitals
Everything You Need to Know to Apply for Free Hospital Care in WA
WA state has a law which requires all hospitals to give you free care if you are low-income. Here are the links and details to help you access this little-known benefit.
No More Fear of Hospital Bills
There is a state law in Washington which every resident of that state should know about. The law requires hospitals to offer free medical care to people whose incomes are below the Federal Poverty guidelines. This free care is available to you regardless of whether you have any insurance or not. (Although if you do have health insurance or medical coupons, Charity Care will only cancel the deductible or copay that you personally are responsible for paying.)
Am I Eligible for Charity Care?
If your income is below the federal poverty guidelines (2007figures below), the hospital cannot ask about or require you to sell any assets that you might have. You will not be asked to empty your bank account or sell your car.
With a family of 1 person, you can have total household income of $10,210. For 2 people, the ceiling is $13,690. For 3 people: $17,170. For 4 people: $20,650. For 5 people: $24,130.
How Do I Apply for Charity Care?
Charity Care is not a program like welfare or medical coupons, and it does not have any official statewide forms. The state law (WAC Chapter 246, Section 453) requires each hospital to develop its own paperwork for Charity Care. The way you apply for it is to tell your hospital billing office that you want to fill out their paperwork for Charity Care. The law is very consumer-friendly; it says that the hospital cannot ask for so much documentation that they discourage people from applying for Charity Care. If a person can’t provide ANY income documentation (such as pay stubs, or w-2 forms, or DSHS paperwork), then the hospital is required to accept a signed statement where you just say how much you earn.
Three More Details about Charity Care
- This law does not apply to specialists who may bill you separately from the hospital. However, they will often agree to write off their bills if you tell them that your hospital bill was covered by Charity Care.
- Even if your hospital bill has been sent to a collection agency, you can still ask that it be cancelled due to Charity Care. All you have to do is contact the billing office at your hospital, and let them know that you are requesting Charity Care.
- If your income is between one and two times the guidelines listed above, the law states that the hospital is required by law to create a sliding scale discount for your hospital bill.
More Information about Charity Care
A detailed description of the Charity Care law is located on a wonderfully helpful website known as Washington Law Help. Just go to Washington Law Help and click on “Health”, and then click on “Obtaining medical coverage and getting help with medical bills”. The second article in the list explains Charity Care.
If you have any questions about the law, you can call Larry Hettick, Hospital Data Manager, at the Department of Health at 360-236-4210 or Larry.Hettick@DOH.WA.GOV . You can also contact Northwest Justice Project at (206) 464-1519 if you live in King County, or 1-888-201-1014 if you live in another part of Washington state.
