Most Generous Hospital Charity Care by City (2026)

City of Hope offers charity care up to 600% FPL, with Cedars-Sinai, UCLA, and CHLA at 400%. California law (AB 1020) sets a floor of 400% FPL for all nonprofit 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.

MD Anderson Cancer Center gives 100% aid up to 400% FPL for Texas residents. Houston Methodist offers free care at 200% FPL with discounts to 500%. Harris Health provides safety-net care for Harris County residents.

Rush and Advocate offer free care at 300% FPL, and UChicago Medicine gives sliding-scale discounts to 600%. Illinois law bans medical debt from credit reports and requires discounts to 600% FPL.

Sharp HealthCare and UC San Diego Health both offer free care at 400% FPL. Scripps Health offers free care at 200% FPL with discounts to 400%. One of the more generous metros in the country.

CHOP offers free care at 400% FPL with no partial tiers. Penn Medicine provides free care at 300% FPL and discounts to 400% FPL.

Stanford, Sutter, and Kaiser all offer free care at 400% FPL. California law (AB 1020) prohibits extraordinary collection actions against eligible patients.

Children's National and Inova offer free care at 400% FPL, and MedStar covers the DC area. The metro spans DC, Maryland, and Virginia.

Northside Hospital and Piedmont Healthcare lead at 300% FPL. Grady Health is the safety-net hospital with the Grady Card program for ongoing care access.

NYU Langone offers free care at 600% FPL and Memorial Sloan Kettering at 500%, among the highest thresholds in the country. Montefiore aids Bronx patients up to 500% FPL. NewYork-Presbyterian uses a sliding scale with discounts to 400% FPL. NY law requires a minimum of 200% FPL.

Baptist Health South Florida, Jackson Health, and University of Miami Health (UHealth) all offer free care at 300% FPL. Jackson is the public safety-net with the Jackson Plus plan for Miami-Dade residents.

Beth Israel Lahey Health offers free care at 400% FPL, the most generous in the metro, while Mass General Brigham gives free care at 150% with discounts to 600% and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute a sliding scale to 300%. Massachusetts Health Safety Net adds state-funded coverage for low-income residents.

Seattle Children's offers free care at 400% FPL with discounts to 600%. Washington state law (RCW 70.170) requires charity care at 300% FPL.

Kaiser leads at 300% FPL. Intermountain offers free care at 250% FPL with catastrophic coverage at any income if bills exceed 25% of income.

BJC HealthCare and Mercy Health both offer free care at 200% FPL with catastrophic provisions. Missouri has limited state-level charity care mandates.

University of Michigan Health (Michigan Medicine) leads at 300% FPL for Michigan residents, with Henry Ford and Corewell Health at 250% FPL. Michigan requires written financial assistance policies.

WakeMed leads at 300% FPL for North Carolina residents (raised under the 2024 NC medical-debt law). UNC Health offers free care at 250% FPL with a 40% automatic uninsured discount, and Duke Health at 200% FPL plus catastrophic relief if bills exceed 15% of gross income.

HCA Healthcare offers a 92% automatic discount for uninsured patients. Ascension offers catastrophic care. Vanderbilt provides discounts to 400% FPL.

Atrium Health and Advocate Health both offer free care at 300% FPL. Novant Health offers free care to 300% FPL for uninsured patients and runs a medical debt relief program.

Valleywise Health, the public safety-net, offers free care at 200% FPL for all residents regardless of immigration status. Banner Health and HonorHealth offer free care at 200% with discounts to 400%, and CommonSpirit (Dignity) at 250%.

Hennepin Healthcare, the public safety-net system, leads at 300% FPL. Allina Health offers free care at 275% FPL, with M Health Fairview and HealthPartners at 200%. Minnesota prohibits credit reporting of medical debt for 180 days.

Tampa General Hospital leads at 300% FPL. AdventHealth and BayCare both offer free care at 250% FPL. Florida provides unlimited homestead protection from medical debt judgments.

OHSU, Legacy Health, Providence, and PeaceHealth all offer free care at 300% FPL with discounts to 400%. Oregon law requires charity-care screening before collections and caps payment plans at 5% of income.

Cleveland Clinic leads at 250% FPL with discounts to 400%. Ohio HCAP provides free basic hospital care for residents at 100% FPL.

UPMC leads at 300% FPL with discounts to 400% and hardship review if bills exceed 15% of income. Pennsylvania has a 4-year statute of limitations on medical debt.

Cincinnati Children's offers a 49% automatic uninsured discount plus free care at 200% FPL. Mercy Health offers discounts to 400% FPL. Ohio HCAP covers residents at 100% FPL.

Orlando Health offers free care at 225% FPL with discounts to 500%, and AdventHealth at 200% FPL. Nemours Children's Hospital covers pediatric patients at 250% FPL. Florida has no state charity care law.

UC Davis Health and Sutter Health both offer free care at 400% FPL. California law (AB 1020) sets a floor of 400% FPL for all nonprofit hospitals.

OhioHealth and Nationwide Children's offer free care at 200% FPL with discounts to 400% FPL. Ohio State Wexner covers Ohio residents at the HCAP 100% FPL floor. Ohio HCAP provides free basic hospital care for residents at 100% FPL.

Ascension St. Vincent leads at 250% FPL. IU Health, Community Health Network, and Franciscan Health all offer free care at 200% FPL. Indiana has no state charity care law.

CHRISTUS Health leads at 300% FPL for free care, with discounts to 400%. Methodist Healthcare and Baptist Health both offer free care at 200% FPL. Texas has no state charity care law.

UMC Southern Nevada (the only public hospital in Clark County) offers free care at 200% FPL with discounts to 400% FPL. HCA provides free care at 200% FPL. Nevada has no state charity care law.

UF Health Jacksonville gives all uninsured patients a 45% automatic discount (no application). Baptist Health offers discounts to 400% FPL. HCA provides a 92% uninsured discount. Florida has unlimited homestead protection.

HCA St. David's provides a 92% automatic uninsured discount across 6 hospitals. Ascension Seton offers free care at 250% FPL (12-county service area requirement). Texas cannot garnish wages for medical debt.

All three major systems (Advocate Aurora, Froedtert, Ascension) offer discounts to 600% FPL. Aurora auto-approves uninsured outpatient accounts without requiring an application. Froedtert has a 25% income catastrophic cap.

University Health offers free care at 400% FPL plus free prescriptions (Jackson County residents). KU Health System at 300% FPL. Missouri's 10-year SOL makes applying critical. Kansas side has unlimited homestead protection.

Methodist Le Bonheur gives ALL uninsured patients a 70% automatic discount (no paperwork). Free care at 250% FPL. Tennessee caps uninsured charges at 175% of cost and bans medical debt from credit reports.

Norton Healthcare offers free care at 350% FPL ($115K for family of 4). They suspended all collection lawsuits in 2023 after filing 8,730 suits in 6 years. Kentucky's $5,000 homestead exemption makes applying critical.

Maryland is the only state where hospital prices are regulated (HSCRC). No chargemaster markup. State law requires free care at 200% FPL. MedStar has a catastrophic provision to 500% FPL if debt exceeds 25% of income.

Ascension St. Vincent's leads at 250% FPL. UAB Medicine offers free care at 200% FPL and provides over $70M a year in charity care. Alabama has NO Medicaid expansion (18% FPL threshold), making hospital financial assistance the only safety net for most low-income adults.

Utah uniquely requires ALL hospitals (including for-profit) to offer charity care and 0% payment plans. Intermountain offers discounts to 400% FPL. Hospitals must screen for financial assistance before sending to collections.

Santa Clara Valley Healthcare offers free care at 400% FPL with discounts to 650% FPL (likely the most generous in the US). Stanford at 400% FPL. CA law (AB 1020) prohibits considering assets at 201-350% FPL.

Hartford HealthCare and Yale New Haven Health offer free care at 250% FPL with discounts to 550%, and UConn Health covers Connecticut residents at 250%. Connecticut PA 24-6 bans medical debt from credit reports entirely.

Sentara Healthcare leads at 300% FPL. Bon Secours, Chesapeake Regional, and Riverside Health System offer free care at 200% FPL with discounts to 400%. The Virginia Medical Debt Protection Act bans credit reporting starting July 2026.

Rhode Island law mandates 200% FPL free care at ALL hospitals (not just nonprofits). Discounts required to 300% FPL. No application deadline under state law. RI Medical Debt Relief Program forgives debt for residents under 400% FPL.

San Antonio Regional Hospital (in Upland) and Kaiser Permanente lead at 300% FPL, the most generous free care in the Inland Empire. Loma Linda University Medical Center offers free care at 200% FPL, alongside county safety-net hospitals. California SB 1276 caps charges at Medicare rates for eligible patients across the 4.6M-person metro.

All major hospitals offer free care at 200% FPL. No state charity care law (federal 501(r) only). Norman Regional has an unusually short 21-day application deadline. Oklahoma allows wage garnishment but has unlimited homestead exemption.

LCMC Health and Children's Hospital New Orleans offer free care at 250% FPL, while Ochsner and Tulane Medical Center provide free care at 200% FPL with discounts to 400%. Louisiana has a 3-year statute of limitations on medical debt.

Bon Secours (4 hospitals) and VCU Health both offer free care at 200% FPL with discounts to 400% FPL. VCU gives you 365 days to apply (longest in metro). Virginia Medical Debt Protection Act (effective July 2026) caps interest at 3% and restricts garnishment.

New York law (Oct 2024) mandates free care at 200% FPL and bans lawsuits against patients under 400% FPL. Catholic Health offers free care at 300% FPL. No application deadline under NY law. ECMC has no immigration requirement.