Charity care eligibility screener
Every hospital operated by a 501(c)(3) organization must maintain a written financial assistance policy under section 501(r) of the tax code. Policies set their own thresholds, and they are usually expressed as a percentage of the federal poverty guidelines. This screener computes that percentage for your household and describes the bands policies commonly use — then sends you to the actual policy, which is the only authority on your case.
Household income as a percentage of the 2026 poverty guidelineworked example
168%
Commonly the free-care band. Many nonprofit hospital policies provide free care at or below about 200% of the poverty guidelines. Some set the line lower, some considerably higher — the hospital's own policy is the authority.
- Guideline for a household of 3
- $27,320
- Household income entered
- $46,000
Most US hospitals are nonprofits, but not all — and the lookup just below this panel searches the IRS's own register of 501(c)(3) hospitals by name, right in your browser. If it is listed, the financial assistance policy requirement applies to it.
🏛️ Is the hospital a nonprofit? Look it up
Search the IRS's own register of 501(c)(3) organisations, narrowed to the ~5,600 coded as hospitals. The search runs in your browser over a public IRS extract — the name you type is not sent anywhere.
✓ Poverty guidelines: 2026, verified against HHS ASPE — 2026 Poverty Guidelines. Household of one: $15,960, plus $5,680 per additional person (48 states + DC).
What this screener is not
It is not a determination, and it is not a database of any specific hospital's thresholds. Each policy sets its own bands, and only the hospital can tell you where you fall in theirs. What this page gives you is the number those policies are written in terms of — your percentage of the federal poverty guideline — so that reading the actual policy takes two minutes instead of an afternoon.
Everything you type here is computed in your browser. Nothing you enter is stored on a server, sent anywhere, or shared — there is no account, and your balances never leave your device.
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