Charity care
Charity care is financial assistance a provider gives to patients who cannot pay for care, based on documented financial need and the provider's policy.
Updated
Charity care refers to free or discounted care extended to eligible patients under a provider's financial assistance policy, typically determined by income, household size, and other documented criteria.
Eligibility is established through an application and verification process, and approved amounts are recorded as charity adjustments rather than bad debt.
In practice
Billers apply approved charity-care adjustments to patient balances, document the determination in the account, and ensure statements reflect the discounted amount so that collections activity is not pursued against assistance-eligible balances.
Commonly confused with
- Self-pay: Self-pay describes patients without insurance or who choose to pay directly; charity care is need-based financial assistance applied after a documented eligibility determination.
- Write-off: A write-off is an accounting action that removes a balance from receivables; charity care is the substantive assistance program, with approved amounts reflected through such adjustments.