Attorney General James Releases Guidance to Help New Yorkers Access Hospital Financial Aid

As Federal Cuts Strip Health Coverage from Hundreds of Thousands of New Yorkers, New Guidance Explains How Patients Can Get Discounts and Payment Plans for Hospital Bills

New York Attorney General Letitia James today released guidance to help New Yorkers understand and exercise their right to financial assistance for hospital bills under New York’s Hospital Financial Aid Law.  All hospitals in New York state are required to offer financial aid to eligible patients who cannot afford their bills, but many New Yorkers are unaware of this protection or do not know how to apply for it.  In new guidance released today, Attorney General James breaks down who qualifies for hospital financial aid, what the law covers, and how patients can apply for help paying their medical bills, as well as financial aid protections for immigrant patients.

“No New Yorker should have to choose between their health and their financial security,” said Attorney General James.  “As federal cuts strip health coverage away from hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers, I urge anyone struggling to pay a hospital bill to use this guidance to understand their rights.  Hospitals have a legal obligation to help patients who are eligible for financial assistance, and no one should be pushed into medical debt because they did not know where to turn.”

Attorney General James released this guidance as federal funding cuts are causing hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers to lose their health coverage.  Because of cuts passed in the federal budget law known as H.R. 1, New York’s Essential Plan income limit dropped from 250 percent to 200 percent of the federal poverty level on July 1, 2026, causing an estimated 450,000 New Yorkers to lose their zero-premium coverage and shift to marketplace plans with higher premiums, deductibles, and out-of-pocket costs.  As more New Yorkers face coverage gaps or costlier plans, hospital financial aid may be one of the few protections standing between a medical emergency and crushing debt.

New York’s Hospital Financial Aid Law requires hospitals to offer discounted or free care, sometimes called “charity care,” to patients who cannot afford their bills.  Patients with household incomes up to 400 percent of the federal poverty level may qualify, and hospitals must waive all charges for patients earning less than 200 percent of the federal poverty level.  This means single New Yorkers earning less than $31,920 and four-person households earning less than $66,000 are entitled to free care, while single New Yorkers earning up to $63,840 and four-person households earning up to $132,000 may qualify for a discount.  Patients do not need to be uninsured to qualify; those with insurance who have exhausted their insurance benefits or who have spent more than 10 percent of their household income on out-of-pocket medical costs in the past year may also be eligible.

In the guidance, Attorney General James also outlines critical protections many patients do not know they have.  Hospitals cannot deny emergency or medically necessary care because of an unpaid bill, cannot limit financial aid based on a patient’s medical condition, and cannot ask about or consider a patient’s immigration status when determining eligibility.  Applying for financial aid does not count as a public benefit and does not affect immigration status.  Additionally, hospitals are legally prohibited from reporting applicants to immigration authorities.  Hospitals also cannot send a bill to a debt collector while a financial aid application is under review, or for at least six months after sending a patient’s first bill.

New Yorkers can apply for financial aid at any time, starting from the day they receive services and continuing throughout the billing and collections process, using a standard application created by the New York State Department of Health (DOH).

Attorney General James encourages New Yorkers who believe a hospital failed to offer financial aid, improperly disqualified them, or unlawfully sent their bill to a debt collector to reach out to OAG’s Health Care Helpline for assistance.

This is the latest step Attorney General James has taken to support New Yorkers struggling with the high cost of health care.  In June, Attorney General James released guidance to help New Yorkers understand health insurance options and avoid scams as major changes to the Essential Plan took effect.  In March, Attorney General James announced that her Health Care Helpline had recovered more than $1.5 million for New Yorkers in 2025.  In December 2025, Attorney General James secured more than $2.8 million from Fidelis health plan and ensured refunds for consumers who were improperly charged for free testing and screening services, and in February 2025, Attorney General delivered $14 million back to CityMD patients who had been wrongfully charged for COVID-19 testing.

Attorney General James has also taken action to improve the quality and accessibility of New York’s health care system.  In April, Attorney General James announced a sweeping settlement with New York-Presbyterian Hospital to overhaul its emergency mental health care after an OAG investigation revealed glaring gaps and systemic failures in its treatment of patients experiencing mental health emergencies.  In March, Attorney General James barred a correctional health care provider from operating in New York following several deaths in custody at a Syracuse jail.  In February 2026, Attorney General James secured more than $2.5 million from EmblemHealth for repeatedly failing to ensure New Yorkers could access mental health care services.  In September 2025, Attorney General James put a stop to the nationwide promotion of an unauthorized opioid overdose drug that big pharma company Indivior misleadingly marketed as a safe alternative to Narcan.  In August 2025, Attorney General James took action to overhaul MVP Health’s mental health ghost network, and in April 2025, Attorney General James reached a landmark settlement with WMCHealth to expand access to inpatient psychiatric care in the Hudson Valley and overhaul how the hospital system treats patients experiencing mental health crises.