Longtime listeners to this show know we’ve been talking about something called “charity care” for years. Federal law requires that all nonprofit hospitals have charity care policies – that is, financial assistance policies — to reduce or remove people’s medical bills. 

 

The problem: people don’t know about it, and hospitals don’t always make it easy to access. New research suggests that the scale of this problem is huge: hospitals are failing to provide more than 14 billion dollars worth of charity care to people who qualify for it. Instead, that money becomes medical debt.

 

That research comes from the nonprofit Dollar For, an organization dedicated to helping people get charity care. We’ve been talking with Dollar For’s founder, Jared Walker, for years – following his teamon their mission to crush medical debt, one charity care application at a time. 

 

Jared brings us up to speed on Dollar For’s latest research, their efforts to reach hospitals, and how new programs targeting medical debt in places like North Carolina may change things. 

 

That new program in North Carolina is estimated to wipe out $4 billion in medical debt. We look into how it took shape. 

 

Plus, we meet Clara, a listener who used her impressive research chops to get charity care from a hospital in New York. In the process, she crafted an expert charity care appeal letter, and shared a template with us. 

 

Use case: the hospital has denied you charity care after you applied, or offered you less than you need. Here’s the template. 

 

Of course, Dollar For has tons of resources, including a tool to help you quickly figure out if you qualify for help. And staff to help if you get stuck. Start here: https://dollarfor.org/help/

 

Here’s a transcript of this episode. 

 

Send your stories and questions. Or call 724 ARM-N-LEG.

 

Of course we’d love for you tosupport this show. This month, every dollar you give gets matched dollar-for-dollar, by NewsMatch, from the Institute for Nonprofit News."

 

Longtime listeners to this show know we&rsquo;ve been talking about something called &ldquo;charity care&rdquo; for years. Federal law requires that all nonprofit hospitals have charity care policies &ndash; that is, financial assistance policies &mdash; to reduce or remove people&rsquo;s medical bills.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
The problem: people don&rsquo;t know about it, and hospitals don&rsquo;t always make it easy to access. New research suggests that the scale of this problem is huge: hospitals are failing to provide more than 14 billion dollars worth of charity care to people who qualify for it. Instead, that money becomes medical debt.
&nbsp;
<a href="https://dollarfor.org/bridging-the-chasm/">That research</a> comes from the nonprofit Dollar For, an organization dedicated to helping people get charity care. We&rsquo;ve been talking with Dollar For&rsquo;s founder, Jared Walker, <a href="https://armandalegshow.com/episode/dollar-for/">for years</a> &ndash;&nbsp;<a href="https://armandalegshow.com/episode/badass-volunteers-help-jared-crush-medical-debt/">following his team</a> <a href="https://armandalegshow.com/episode/using-charity-care-to-crush-medical-bills-six-top-tips/">on their mission</a> to <a href="https://armandalegshow.com/episode/the-medical-bill-negotiation-lab/">crush medical debt</a>, one charity care application at a time.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
Jared brings us up to speed on Dollar For&rsquo;s latest research, their efforts to reach hospitals, and how new programs targeting medical debt in places like North Carolina may change things.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
That new program in North Carolina is estimated to wipe out $4 billion in medical debt. We look into how it took shape.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
Plus, we meet Clara, a listener who used her impressive research chops to get charity care from a hospital in New York. In the process, she crafted an expert charity care appeal letter, and shared a template with us.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
Use case: the hospital has denied you charity care after you applied, or offered you less than you need. <a href="https://armandalegshow.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/redacted_Clara-Appeal-Letter-template.pdf">Here&rsquo;s the template</a>.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
Of course, Dollar For has tons of resources, including a tool to help you quickly figure out if you qualify for help. And staff to help if you get stuck. Start here: <a href="https://dollarfor.org/help/">https://dollarfor.org/help/</a>
&nbsp;
<a href="https://armandalegshow.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/WEB-TRANSCRIPT_S12-Ep08_Charity-Care-24_edited.docx.pdf">Here&rsquo;s a transcript of this episode</a>.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
<a href="https://armandalegshow.com/contact/">Send your stories and questions.</a> Or call 724 ARM-N-LEG.
&nbsp;
Of course we&rsquo;d love for you to<a href="https://armandalegshow.com/support/"> support this show</a>. This month, every dollar you give gets matched dollar-for-dollar, by NewsMatch, from the Institute for Nonprofit News."
&nbsp;

An Arm and a Leg is a podcast about why health care costs so freaking much and what we can (maybe) do about it.

If you’ve ever been surprised by a medical bill, you’re in good company. But as our team of seasoned journalists has learned from years of reporting — you’re not always helpless. We don’t have all the answers, but we’ll offer you tools and big picture insights with plenty of humor and heart. 

An Arm and a Leg is co-produced with KFF Health News and distributed in partnership with KUOW.

You can support An Arm and a Leg by donating at armandalegshow.com/support/

Show Credits: Created, hosted, and produced by Dan Weissmann with senior producer Emily Pisacreta and engagement producer Claire Davenport, edited by Ellen Weiss. Audio wizard: Adam Raymonda. Music is by Dave Weiner and Blue Dot Sessions. Bea Bosco is our consulting director of operations. Lynne Johnson is our operations manager.

An Arm and a Leg&nbsp;is a podcast about why health care costs so freaking much and what we can (maybe) do about it.
If you&rsquo;ve ever been surprised by a medical bill, you&rsquo;re in good company. But as our team of seasoned journalists has learned from years of reporting &mdash; you&rsquo;re not always helpless. We don&rsquo;t have all the answers, but we&rsquo;ll offer you tools and big picture insights with plenty of humor and heart.&nbsp;
An Arm and a Leg is co-produced with <a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/">KFF Health News</a> and distributed in partnership with <a href="https://www.kuow.org/">KUOW</a>.
You can support An Arm and a Leg&nbsp;by donating at <a href="https://armandalegshow.com/support/">armandalegshow.com/support/</a>
<hr>
Show Credits:&nbsp;Created, hosted, and produced by Dan Weissmann with senior producer Emily Pisacreta and engagement producer Claire Davenport, edited by Ellen Weiss. Audio wizard: Adam Raymonda. Music is by Dave Weiner and Blue Dot Sessions. Bea Bosco is our consulting director of operations. Lynne Johnson is our operations manager.

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