Most Generous Hospital Charity Care by City (2026)

Find out which hospitals in your city offer the most generous financial assistance. We compare charity care programs by how high they set the income threshold for free and discounted care.

What is FPL? The Federal Poverty Level is a government-set income threshold used by hospitals to determine who qualifies for free or discounted care. For example, 400% FPL for a family of four is about $132,000 per year. The higher a hospital's FPL threshold, the more people qualify.

Check Your Eligibility Across All Hospitals

Enter your income and household size to see every hospital in our database where you would qualify for free or discounted care.

Browse by City

Los Angeles

Up to 400% FPL free6 hospitals

Cedars-Sinai, UCLA, and CHLA offer free care at 400% FPL. California law (AB 1020) sets a floor of 400% FPL for all nonprofit hospitals.

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Dallas-Fort Worth

Up to 400% FPL free5 hospitals

Cook Children's leads at 400% FPL with discounts to 500%. Texas Health Resources offers free care at 250% FPL. Texas has no state charity care law.

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Houston

Up to 200% FPL free5 hospitals

Houston Methodist offers discounts to 500% FPL with a 10% income cap above that. Harris Health provides safety-net care for Harris County residents.

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Chicago

Up to 300% FPL free6 hospitals

Rush and Advocate offer free care at 300% FPL. Illinois law bans medical debt from credit reports and requires discounts to 600% FPL.

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San Diego

Up to 400% FPL free4 hospitals

UCSD Health offers free care at 400% FPL. Scripps and Sharp both offer free care at 350% FPL. One of the most generous metros in the country.

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All Hospitals by Free Care Threshold

Every hospital in our database, sorted by how generous their free care threshold is.

Hospital	Free Care	Discount	Guide
Cedars-Sinai	≤ 400% FPL	≤ 600% FPL	Full guide
UCLA Health	≤ 400% FPL	N/A	Full guide
Children's Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA)	≤ 400% FPL	≤ 600% FPL	Full guide
UC San Diego Health	≤ 400% FPL	N/A	Full guide
Cook Children's 100% free care for uninsured or underinsured families at or below 400% FPL	≤ 400% FPL	≤ 500% FPL	Full guide
Scripps Health	≤ 350% FPL	≤ 400% FPL	Full guide
Sharp HealthCare	≤ 350% FPL	≤ 400% FPL	Full guide
Kaiser Permanente 350% in some California regions	≤ 300% FPL	≤ 400% FPL	Full guide
Rush University Medical Center Presumptive charity (no application needed) for SNAP/WIC/TANF recipients at any income	≤ 300% FPL	≤ 600% FPL	Full guide
Advocate Health	≤ 300% FPL	≤ 600% FPL	Full guide
Providence 300% FPL in CA, OR, and WA. Other states vary.	≤ 300% FPL	≤ 400% FPL	Full guide
Texas Health Resources Some facilities may use 200% FPL threshold	≤ 250% FPL	N/A	Full guide
Northwestern Medicine Illinois law requires free care at 200% FPL; Northwestern exceeds this	≤ 250% FPL	≤ 600% FPL	Full guide
Baylor Scott & White	≤ 200% FPL	≤ 500% FPL	Full guide
Medical City Hospitals (HCA)	≤ 200% FPL	≤ 400% FPL	Full guide
Parkland Health County public hospital. Also offers HEALTHplus subsidized health plan for Dallas County residents.	≤ 200% FPL	≤ 250% FPL	Full guide
Lurie Children's Hospital Full charity care at lowest income levels; AGB discount for all uninsured up to 600% FPL	≤ 200% FPL	≤ 600% FPL	Full guide
Memorial Hermann	≤ 200% FPL	N/A	Full guide
Houston Methodist	≤ 200% FPL	≤ 500% FPL	Full guide
Texas Children's Hospital Sliding scale from 56.5% to 100% discount based on income	≤ 200% FPL	N/A	Full guide
CommonSpirit Health (Dignity Health) 250% FPL in California	≤ 200% FPL	≤ 400% FPL	Full guide
Cook County Health Required by Illinois law. Also offers CareLink subsidized health plan for Cook County residents.	≤ 200% FPL	≤ 600% FPL	Full guide
Harris Health System County public hospital. Also offers Gold Card subsidized health plan for Harris County residents.	≤ 150% FPL	N/A	Full guide

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How we rank: Hospitals are sorted by the income threshold at which they offer 100% free care (higher = more generous). FPL figures are based on 2026 Federal Poverty Level guidelines.

Data is sourced from each hospital's published financial assistance policy. Last updated May 2026. More cities coming soon.