Medical bills in Alabama: free care, credit reports and your rights

Alabama has no state charity-care law; nonprofit hospitals must still follow federal rules.

Alabama has no state law that keeps medical debt off credit reports; the federal 7-year limit still applies.

Charity care means free or discounted care for people with low income. Hospitals also call it financial assistance.

Can I get my bill reduced?Is my debt too old?Can they sue me or report it?Free help

Checked against official sources: October 30, 2026.

Federal rules for nonprofit hospitals apply in every state. Free help can review your bill.

Can I get my bill reduced in Alabama?

Alabama has no state charity-care law. Nonprofit hospitals must follow the federal rules, and each hospital has its own policy: ask for it and for the application.

Is my debt too old in Alabama?

Kind of agreement	Time limit to sue
Written contract	6 years
Open account	3 years

A lawsuit on a written promise, on a loan or on a stated (agreed) account must be filed within 6 years. A lawsuit to recover money due on an open account must be filed within 3 years. Lawsuits on other simple contracts not listed elsewhere also have 6 years.

What can restart the clock

Only a partial payment made before the time limit runs out, or an unconditional written promise to pay signed by you, restarts the time. Nothing else does, including a spoken promise.

When the clock starts

For an open account, the time runs from the date of the last item on the account or from when the account is due by contract or custom.

Law: Ala. Code 6-2-34(4), (5), (9); Ala. Code 6-2-37(1); Ala. Code 6-2-16

A time limit to sue can differ by kind of agreement, and when it starts and what restarts it can differ; a court decides.

Check my dates with the free tool →

Can they sue me or report it in Alabama?

Credit reports

No state limit

Alabama law does not limit reporting medical debt to credit bureaus.

Surprise bills and ambulance bills in Alabama

State law

Alabama ground ambulance balance billing law

Law: Act 2026-349, S.B. 269; Act 2026-349 (S.B. 269)

Which plans it covers

Health plans issued, delivered or renewed in Alabama by health insurers, health care service plans, HMOs and nonprofit agricultural organizations that offer health benefits.

Ground ambulance

The state protects you

Starting October 1, 2026, an emergency medical service provider, in network or out of network, may not bill you or try to collect anything for covered ground ambulance services except your in-network copay, coinsurance and deductible, and the plan's payment is payment in full.

Law: Act 2026-349 (S.B. 269), secs. 1-3, 6, 8

Law: Act 2026-349 (S.B. 269)

All the details →

Health coverage and Medicaid in Alabama

Alabama Medicaid is Alabama's Medicaid program. Apply for it here:

Apply: Alabama Medicaid · 1-800-362-1504

Where to complain in Alabama

Health insurance: Alabama Department of Insurance, Consumer Services · 334-241-4141
Your health insurer denied a claim, or an ambulance billed you more than your in-network cost sharing.
Hospital licensing: Alabama Department of Public Health, Bureau of Health Provider Standards · 1-800-356-9596
You have a complaint about a licensed hospital, surgery center or other health care facility.
Attorney general: Alabama Attorney General, Consumer Interest Division · 1-800-392-5658
A business or debt collector used unfair or deceptive practices.

Free help in Alabama

Free tools, letters and checklist

Good to know in Alabama

Alabama's 2026 ground ambulance law bars in-network and out-of-network ambulance providers from billing insured patients more than their in-network cost sharing.
Law: Act 2026-349, sec. 3

Changes in 2024–2026

October 1, 2026: Act 2026-349 took effect, limiting ground ambulance bills for people with state-regulated health plans to in-network cost sharing and setting minimum plan payments (out-of-network minimum from January 1, 2027). The law is set to be repealed June 1, 2029.

Law: S.B. 269

Questions about medical bills in Alabama

How long can a medical bill be collected or sued on in Alabama?

A lawsuit on a written promise, on a loan or on a stated (agreed) account must be filed within 6 years. A lawsuit to recover money due on an open account must be filed within 3 years.

Am I protected from ground ambulance bills in Alabama?

More help

Nearby states

Sources

Sources

National rules that apply in every state

Nonprofit hospitals (federal rules)

Each nonprofit hospital must have a written financial assistance policy (FAP).

Law: 26 U.S.C. 501(r)(4); 26 CFR 1.501(r)-4

Before any ECA, the hospital must tell you about financial assistance and wait at least 120 days from the first bill sent after you left the hospital.

Law: 26 CFR 1.501(r)-6(c)(3)

You can apply for at least 240 days from the first bill sent after you left the hospital.

Law: 26 CFR 1.501(r)-1(b)(3)

If you apply during the application period, even with an incomplete application, the hospital and its collectors must stop starting or continuing ECAs until the hospital decides, or until you fail to send requested information within a reasonable time.

Law: 26 CFR 1.501(r)-6(c)(8)

Once you are found eligible, the hospital cannot charge you more than the amounts generally billed (AGB) to people with insurance for emergency or other medically necessary care, and must charge less than its full gross charges for other covered care.

Law: 26 U.S.C. 501(r)(5); 26 CFR 1.501(r)-5

Surprise bills (No Surprises Act)

With most private health plans (job-based plans, Marketplace and other individual plans), you are protected from surprise out-of-network bills for emergency care, for non-emergency care at an in-network hospital, hospital outpatient department or ambulatory surgical center, and for air ambulance services.

Law: 42 U.S.C. 300gg-111, 300gg-131, 300gg-132, 300gg-135

For protected services, you can't be charged more than your in-network cost-sharing (copay, coinsurance, deductible).

Law: 42 U.S.C. 300gg-131, 300gg-132

Ground ambulance services are generally not covered by these federal protections, unless a state law has different rules.

Law: CMS, Know your rights when using insurance

If you don't have insurance or won't use it, providers and facilities must usually give you a written good faith estimate.

Law: 42 U.S.C. 300gg-136; 45 CFR 149.610

If one provider's or facility's bill is at least $400 more than its good faith estimate, you can use the federal patient-provider dispute resolution process.

Law: 45 CFR 149.620(a)(2)(ii), (c)(1)

Credit reports

A collection account generally cannot be reported for more than 7 years.

Law: 15 U.S.C. 1681c(a)(4), (c)(1)

For a veteran's medical debt (care authorized by the VA from a non-VA provider, or a bill the VA charged in error), nationwide credit bureaus may not report it until 1 year after the care, and may not report it once it is fully paid or settled, when they know it is a veteran's medical debt.

Law: 15 U.S.C. 1681c(a)(7), (8); 15 U.S.C. 1681a

If a medical debt on your credit report is wrong, you can dispute it with the credit bureau for free.

Law: 15 U.S.C. 1681i(a)(1)

Debt collectors

A debt collector must give you validation information about the debt, including the amount and how to dispute it.

Law: 12 CFR 1006.34

If you dispute the debt in writing within the validation period, the collector must stop collecting the disputed amount until it sends you verification of the debt.

Law: 12 CFR 1006.38(c), (d)(2)

A debt collector must not sue or threaten to sue you on a time-barred debt, meaning a debt whose statute of limitations has run out.

Law: 12 CFR 1006.26(b)

Itemized bills and price lists

Your medical and billing records kept by a health care provider are part of your 'designated record set'.

Law: 45 CFR 164.501 (designated record set); 45 CFR 164.524(b)(2)

If Medicare paid for an item or service, you can ask the provider in writing for an itemized statement.

Law: 42 U.S.C. 1395b-7(b)

Every hospital must post online a machine-readable file of all its standard charges, and a consumer-friendly list of at least 300 shoppable services (or an online price estimator tool).

Law: 45 CFR 180.40, 180.50, 180.60

Medicaid and Medicare

If you qualify for Medicaid, it can pay for covered care you got up to 3 months before the month you applied, if you were eligible then.

Law: 42 U.S.C. 1396a(a)(34), 1396d(a); Pub. L. 119-21, sec. 71112 (July 4, 2025)

If you are in the Qualified Medicare Beneficiary (QMB) program, Medicare providers may not bill you for Medicare deductibles, coinsurance or copays for Medicare-covered care.

Law: 42 U.S.C. 1396a(n)(3)(B); CMS

If your health plan denies a claim

You must file an internal appeal within 180 days (6 months) of the notice that your claim was denied.

Law: 45 CFR 147.136(b); HealthCare.gov

After a final denial, you can ask for an external review by an independent reviewer within 4 months.

Law: 45 CFR 147.136(c), (d); HealthCare.gov

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