We’re starting a new investigation and need your help. We’re looking into something we’ve talked about a lot on this show: hospital financial assistance – also known as “charity care” — which most hospitals are legally required to offer. 


Something like 60 percent of people might qualify to have their hospital bills reduced or even forgiven through charity care — but of course nowhere close to 60 percent of people actually get that assistance. 


A lot of people just don’t know about it. (A survey our friends at Dollar For ran last year found that more than half of patients who might qualify for charity care had never even heard of it.)


Which raises a question: How exactly are hospitals telling you and me about charity care — you know fulfilling their legal obligation to let us know we just might qualify to have our medical bill forgiven? 


This is where you come in: we want to see a LOT of bills from hospitals. If you got one any time in the last year would you please you share it with us here? 


Even if you weren’t worried about how you’d pay — we just want to see what your hospital was saying about your options (like payment plans vs charity care). We want to see what’s in bold type and what’s in fine print.


And if you were at all worried about how to pay, we’d like to hear the story. Did anyone mention charity care to you? Or what? And how’s it going? 


We also need your help spreading the word to friends and family. Spread the word to your friends and family, share our form with them. 


Finally, if you’re looking for charity care support, or just to see if you might qualify, you can go to Dollar For’s website and use their screening tool to see if you’re eligible, and their team of amazing volunteers can take it from there. And you can find more information on charity care in our First Aid Kit newsletter.


That’s all for now. Here's a transcript of this short episode. We’ll be back with more new episodes in a few weeks. 


In the meantime, you can send us other stories and questions. Or call 724 ARM-N-LEG.


Of course we’d love for you to support this show.

We’re starting a new investigation and need your help. We’re looking into something we’ve talked about a lot on this show: hospital financial assistance – also known as “charity care” — which most hospitals are legally required to offer.&nbsp; Something like 60 percent of people might qualify to have their hospital bills reduced or even forgiven through charity care — but of course nowhere close to 60 percent of people actually get that assistance.&nbsp; A lot of people just don’t know about it. (A survey our friends at <a href="https://dollarfor.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Dollar For</a> ran last year found that more than half of patients who might qualify for charity care had never even heard of it.) Which raises a question: How exactly are hospitals telling you and me about charity care — you know fulfilling their legal obligation to let us know we just might qualify to have our medical bill forgiven?&nbsp; This is where you come in: we want to see a LOT of bills from hospitals. If you got one any time in the last year would you <a href="http://armandalegshow.com/bills" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">please you share it with us here</a>?&nbsp; Even if you weren’t worried about how you’d pay — we just want to see what your hospital was saying about your options (like payment plans vs charity care). We want to see what’s in bold type and what’s in fine print. And if you were at all worried about how to pay, we’d like to hear the story. Did anyone mention charity care to you? Or what? And how’s it going?&nbsp; We also need your help spreading the word to friends and family. Spread the word to your friends and family, <a href="http://armandalegshow.com/bills" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">share our form with them</a>.&nbsp; Finally, if you’re looking for charity care support, or just to see if you might qualify, you can go to<a href="https://dollarfor.org/how-we-help/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> Dollar For’s website </a>and use their <a href="https://dollarfor.org/help/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">screening tool</a> to see if you’re eligible, and their team of <a href="https://armandalegshow.com/episode/badass-volunteers-help-jared-crush-medical-debt/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">amazing volunteers</a> can take it from there. And you can find more information on charity care in our <a href="https://firstaidkit.substack.com/p/five-things-to-know-charity-care" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">First Aid Kit newsletter</a>. That’s all for now. Here's <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mSV0jibmxh3V5Y5rfjQFeFjwa2fOid1g/view?usp=sharing" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">a transcript of this short episode</a>. We’ll be back with more new episodes in a few weeks.&nbsp; In the meantime, you can send us other <a href="https://armandalegshow.com/contact/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">stories and questions.</a> Or call 724 ARM-N-LEG. Of course we’d love for you to <a href="https://armandalegshow.com/support/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">support this show</a>.

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.