For donors

HospitalAid is a free, national lookup of hospital financial assistance. Nonprofit hospitals must have a program that gives free or discounted care to people who can’t pay. Many patients never hear about it.

We read each hospital’s policy and show the income cutoffs in dollars, with a link to the source. The same numbers work for patients, for hospitals, and for AI assistants.

Why it matters

  • The rule already exists.

    A federal tax rule, IRS 501(r), requires every nonprofit hospital to have a written financial assistance policy.

  • Each hospital sets its own cutoffs.

    Two Rhode Island hospitals about 13 miles apart give free care up to $54,640 and up to $95,620 for the same family of three.

  • There is time to apply.

    Nonprofit hospitals must accept applications for at least 240 days after the first bill.

One sourced dataset. Three ways in.

The same numbers serve the person holding the bill, the hospital that wrote the policy, and the assistant someone asks for help.

  • For patients

    Answer four questions and see which hospitals nearby likely give free or discounted care, with the cutoffs in dollars.

    Check a bill

  • For hospitals

    Each hospital can check its page and verify it. Each page names its source, such as the hospital’s policy or IRS filing.

    See the hospital page

  • For AI assistants

    Paste a prompt, or read the Markdown copy of any hospital, state or metro page. A connector is coming. Assistants get the same sourced numbers.

    Use it with an assistant

What each side sees

A result for the patient, a page for the hospital, a connector for the assistant. All three read from the same records.

Results in dollars, for each household.

Each nearby hospital shows its free care and discount cutoffs for a household of that size, with where the number came from and when we checked it.

  • Likely free, likely discounted, or probably not eligible
  • The source of each result, and the date when we have one
  • The phone number to call and how to apply
Try it

A page for every hospital, ready to verify.

Every hospital in the lookup gets its own page with its cutoffs when we have found them, and its sources. Hospital staff can check the page and verify it.

  • Verified cutoffs quote the hospital’s own policy, with the link
  • A hospital can’t pay to change what its page says
  • Every number needs a source, such as the policy, the IRS filing or a state program
For hospitals

A connector AI assistants can use.

The HospitalAid connector will let an assistant that supports connectors read the same sourced numbers as the site. It is not live yet. Every hospital, health center, state and metro page already has a Markdown copy.

  • One address for the connector
  • Sources and dates travel with each number
  • The assistant says likely, never a promise
For AI assistants

Privacy by design

  • Answers stay on the page.

    A person’s household size and income never leave their browser. To find hospitals nearby, the page downloads a public list for the first two digits of the ZIP code.

  • Nothing is stored.

    We keep no record of what anyone types. There are no accounts. Close the page and it is gone.

  • Every page names its source.

    Each page says whether its numbers come from the hospital’s policy, its IRS filing, a state program or a federal rule, and links to the source when there is one.

How this is paid for

  • Patients never pay.
  • Nobody pays us today. HospitalAid is a new project. It is not a registered nonprofit.
  • Later, hospitals may pay for tools to check and update their own page.
  • A hospital can’t pay to change what its page says. Every number still needs a source.

Want to help build it? Get in touch.

We are not taking donations yet. To talk about helping, write to corrections@hospitalaid.org.

Donations are not open yet