Hospital Financial Assistance
Free or Discounted Hospital Care
Out-of-pocket hospital costs are often unaffordable, even with health insurance. While nonprofit hospitals are required to have financial assistance policies in place that offer free or discounted care to eligible patients, it can be a complex process for members to navigate.
Expertise
What You Need to Know About Hospital Financial Assistance
While 60% of people—including those with commercial insurance—are likely eligible for hospital financial assistance, there’s a significant lack of awareness and many misconceptions about these programs. We’re here to break it down.
What It Is
In return for nonprofit and tax-exempt status, hospitals must offer “community benefits,” including free or discounted care to patients unable to pay.
Eligibility
You may be surprised to learn that many hospitals extend discounts to families of four making up to $180K a year!
How Employers Can Help
Hospitals often fall short in facilitating eligibility checks. Your organization can leverage user-friendly financial assistance technology that simplifies eligibility and application.
The current landscape — and why things need to change
According to KFF, employers spent about $17,393 for family coverage per employee in 2023—up 47.54% since 2013. Employers are spending millions to provide quality healthcare benefits. And yet, according to our recent survey results, employees are still struggling with medical debt.
40%
say medical debt impacts their finances
Medical debt impacts the ability to cover daily living expenses like gas, rent and groceries.
74%
have avoided seeking medical care due to cost
There is urgent need to prioritize affordability and ensure access to essential medical services.
82%
are unaware of available hospital financial assistance
Many eligible patients are not aware of or have never applied for hospital financial assistance.
Solutions
Our Solutions
BillAssist
Lower high-cost medical bills
Our technology helps employees quickly determine eligibility for hospital financial assistance (HFA) and connects them with a navigator who can review bills for accuracy and negotiate lower out-of-pocket costs.
We make hospital financial assistance simple.
We clear the path to meaningful cost savings and medical debt reduction with a HIPAA-compliant, self-serve tool that makes hospital financial assistance easy to access, understand, and navigate.
Why don’t more people apply?
While 60% of people are likely eligible, our survey results point to a significant lack of awareness and misconceptions about these programs.
- “I had health insurance through my employer, so did not believe I would qualify”
- “I believed my income was too high”
- “Application requirements were too complex”
- I didn’t feel comfortable accepting charity or assistance”
As an Emry client, is the employer or health plan responsible for funding the discount amounts?
No. Nonprofit hospitals are required by federal law to offer income-based financial assistance programs to their patients to justify their tax-exempt status. The transaction that happens when a member applies and is approved for financial assistance is a simple write-off in the hospital’s billing system. (i.e., a $2,000 bill is discounted down to $500 if the member qualifies for a 75% discount.)
Can’t I just direct my employees to the hospital website?
Simply directing employees to hospital websites with hard-to-find applications is not effective. There is a major need for navigation assistance that utilizes technology to simplify and centralize the financial assistance application process. Emry Health leverages advanced software solutions that significantly streamlines the eligibility and application processes. These technologies reduce the time and complexity involved for employees, offering support and assistance at every step of the process.
Industry Impact
