# New York — State minimum standards for hospital financial assistance (charity care)

For New York, statute is PBH § 2807-k; income level for free care is below at least two hundred percent of the federal poverty  level, the hospital shall waive all charges; highest income the rule still protects is below at least four hundred  percent of the federal poverty level; which hospitals must comply is general hospitals shall,  effective for periods on and after January first, two thousand seven, establish financial  aid policies and procedures; basis for the income test is federal poverty level, verified against its source on 2026-08-30.

- **State:** New York _(our reading, not quoted from the source)_
- **Statute:** PBH § 2807-k _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **Income level for free care:** below at least two hundred percent of the federal poverty  level, the hospital shall waive all charges _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **Highest income the rule still protects:** below at least four hundred  percent of the federal poverty level _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **Required discounts by income band:** (ii) For patients with incomes between at least two hundred percent and up to three hundred percent of the federal poverty level, the hospital shall collect no more than the amount identified after application of a proportional sliding fee schedule under which patients with lower incomes shall pay the lowest amount. Such schedule shall provide that the amount the hospital may collect for such patients increases in equal increments as the income of the patient increases, up to a maximum of ten percent of the amount that would have been paid for the same services provided pursuant to title XIX of the federal social security act (medicaid), or for underinsured patients, up to a maximum of ten percent of the amount that would have been paid pursuant to such patient's insurance cost sharing; (iii) For patients with incomes between at least three hundred one percent and four hundred percent of the federal poverty level, the hospital shall collect no more than the amount identified after application of a proportional sliding fee schedule under which patients with lower income shall pay the lowest amounts. Such schedule shall provide that the amount the hospital may collect for such patients increases from the ten percent figure described in subparagraph (ii) of this paragraph in equal increments as the income of the patient increases, up to a maximum of twenty percent of the amount that would have been paid for the same services provided pursuant to title XIX of the federal social security act (medicaid) _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **Which hospitals must comply:** general hospitals shall,  effective for periods on and after January first, two thousand seven, establish financial  aid policies and procedures _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **Basis for the income test:** federal poverty level _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **Notes:** A hospital or its collection agent shall not commence a civil action against a patient  or delegate a collection activity to a debt collector for nonpayment for at least  one hundred eighty days after the first post-service bill is issued _(verified: appears in the quote below)_

## What the source says

> Such reductions from charges for patients with incomes below at least four hundred percent of the federal poverty level shall result in a charge to such individuals that does not exceed the amount that would have been paid for the same services provided pursuant to title XIX of the federal social security act (medicaid), 1 and provided further that such amounts shall be adjusted according to income level as follows: (i) For patients with incomes below at least two hundred percent of the federal poverty level, the hospital shall waive all charges.

## Source

- https://codes.findlaw.com/ny/public-health-law/pbh-sect-2807-k.html

Last verified: 2026-08-30. Review by: 2027-02-22.
Part of [State minimum standards for hospital financial assistance (charity care)](https://referencesource.org/state-hospital-financial-assistance-thresholds/).