Medical bills in Connecticut: free care, credit reports and your rights
Connecticut has a law that requires hospitals to give free or discounted care to people with income up to 250% of the federal poverty level.
Connecticut law bans medical debt from credit reports.
Charity care means free or discounted care for people with low income. Hospitals also call it financial assistance.
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 Connecticut?
Connecticut has a law that requires hospitals to give free or discounted care to people with income up to 250% of the federal poverty level.
| Income (% of poverty level) | What you get | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Up to 250% | Discount | If your income is at or below 250% of the federal poverty level and you qualify as an uninsured patient, the hospital and providers it owns or is affiliated with may not collect more from you than the cost of providing your care. Whether you also get free care depends on the hospital's own financial assistance policy or bed funds. |
These are the income levels written in the law. Each hospital decides using its own policy.
- The law
Connecticut limit on hospital collections from uninsured patients and hospital bed fund law
Law: Conn. Gen. Stat. 19a-673; Conn. Gen. Stat. 19a-509b; Conn. Gen. Stat. 19a-673, 19a-509b, 19a-920
- Which hospitals
All hospitals licensed in Connecticut, including for-profit hospitals, and providers that are owned by or affiliated with a hospital or health system.
- Who can get help
The cost limit protects uninsured patients with income at or below 250% of the federal poverty level who applied for Medicaid and were denied, and who have no other coverage (including Medicare, other insurance, workers' compensation, or a settlement or award from an accident or negligence claim).
- The most you can be charged
For a qualifying uninsured patient, no more than the hospital's cost of providing the care: its published charges multiplied by its most recent cost-to-charge ratio filed with the state.
- Deadline to apply
No state deadline. Patients who cannot pay an outstanding hospital bill must be allowed to apply or reapply for hospital bed funds.
Law: Conn. Gen. Stat. 19a-673, 19a-509b, 19a-920
Check your income level
Find out what percent of the federal poverty level your household income is, and compare it with the income levels in Connecticut law.
Is my debt too old in Connecticut?
| Kind of agreement | Time limit to sue |
|---|---|
| Written contract | 6 years |
| Open account | 6 years |
| Oral (spoken) agreement | 3 years |
A lawsuit on an account, a simple or implied contract, or a written contract must be filed within 6 years after the right to sue arises. A lawsuit on an agreement that is not in writing (and not signed) must be filed within 3 years.
- When the clock starts
When the right of action accrues (the code does not say when that is for a medical bill).
Law: Conn. Gen. Stat. 52-576, 52-581
A time limit to sue can differ by kind of agreement, and when it starts and what restarts it can differ; a court decides.
Can they sue me or report it in Connecticut?
- Credit reports
Full ban
No health care provider or company that buys or collects medical debt may report any part of a medical debt to a credit bureau.
- Waiting rules
Before a hospital or a provider it owns or is affiliated with sends a hospital bill to a collection agent or sues you, it must first determine whether you are an uninsured patient eligible for its hospital bed fund. If at any point, even after a judgment, the hospital or collector learns you may be eligible for bed funds, free or reduced-price care or another program that would erase or reduce the bill, it must promptly stop all collection and send the file back to the hospital until the hospital decides. Collection may not resume before that decision.
- Interest
At most 5% a year
If you are sued over a debt for hospital services, interest before and after judgment may be no more than 5% a year, and the court decides whether to award any interest at all.
- Liens on your home
A hospital, a provider it owns or is affiliated with, or its collection agent may place a lien on your home, but may not foreclose on a lien on your primary residence for care provided on or after October 1, 2022.
- Wage garnishment
A hospital, its affiliated providers and its collection agents may not garnish your wages for care provided on or after October 1, 2022 if you are eligible for the hospital bed fund. For any debt, Connecticut's general limit is stricter than federal law: no more than the lesser of 25% of weekly disposable earnings or the amount above 40 times the higher of the federal or Connecticut minimum hourly wage.
- Lawsuit rules
Hospitals may still sue to collect coinsurance, deductibles or fees that may be paid from a settlement, award or judgment, or when payment has been or will likely be made directly to you.
Law: Conn. Gen. Stat. 19a-673b, 19a-673d, 37-3a(b), 52-361a(f)
Surprise bills and ambulance bills in Connecticut
- State law
Connecticut surprise bill and emergency services law
- Which plans it covers
Individual and group health insurance and HMO plans regulated by Connecticut. Self-funded employer plans are covered only by the federal No Surprises Act.
- What it adds
If an out-of-network provider treats you at an in-network facility (during a procedure by an in-network provider or one your insurer approved) and you did not knowingly choose that provider, or an out-of-network lab gets your test from an in-network provider's referral, you pay only your in-network cost sharing.
- Ground ambulance
No state limit listed
Connecticut has no state limit on ground ambulance bills that we list here. The federal No Surprises Act generally does not cover ground ambulances either, so ask the ambulance company about financial assistance and a payment plan.
Law: Conn. Gen. Stat. 38a-477aa
Itemized bills and price estimates in Connecticut
Connecticut law gives you a right to an itemized bill within 30 days.
If you are a self-pay patient, a hospital must give you an itemized bill within 30 days after you ask. It must list in plain language each service, supply or medication and its charge. Hospital admission forms must tell self-pay patients they can get a copy of their charges and whom to contact. All hospital bills must explain any codes or initials and show the hospital's cost-to-charge ratio.
Law: Conn. Gen. Stat. 19a-509(a), (b)
Health coverage and Medicaid in Connecticut
HUSKY Health (Connecticut Medicaid and CHIP) is Connecticut's Medicaid program. Apply for it here:
Where to complain in Connecticut
- Health plan problems: Office of the Healthcare Advocate (OHA) · 1-866-466-4446
Help with insurance denials, surprise bills, hospital financial assistance and medical debt questions. - Health insurance: Connecticut Insurance Department, Consumer Affairs · (800) 203-3447 or (860) 297-3900
A complaint against a health insurance company regulated by the state. - Debt collectors: Connecticut Department of Banking, Consumer Affairs · 860-240-8170 or 1-800-831-7225 (option 2)
A collection agency broke state collection rules. - Attorney general: Connecticut Attorney General, Consumer Assistance
Other consumer complaints, including credit reporting or card-on-file violations.
Free help in Connecticut
Free tools, letters and checklist
Good to know in Connecticut
- A collection agency trying to collect a debt that is too old to sue on must say so in its first message, using wording set in the law.
Law: Conn. Gen. Stat. 36a-805(a)(13)
- Hospitals must report their debt collection policies and use of collection agents to the state every year.
Law: Conn. Gen. Stat. 19a-673c
- Requiring a card or bank account on file before care is an unfair trade practice under the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act.
Law: Conn. Gen. Stat. 19a-920(b)
Changes in 2024–2026
July 1, 2024: Public Act 24-6 banned health care providers and collection entities from reporting medical debt to credit bureaus (reported debt is void) and made the hospital reporting ban permanent (19a-673b(c)(1)). January 1, 2025: state-regulated health plans may not require prior approval for 911 calls or medically necessary ambulance rides to a hospital. 2025: Public Act 25-97, sec. 4 barred providers from requiring a card or bank account on file before care. Earlier (October 1, 2022): limits on hospital home foreclosure and wage garnishment.
Law: Conn. Gen. Stat. 38a-498a, 38a-525a; Conn. Gen. Stat. 19a-920; Public Act 21-129
Questions about medical bills in Connecticut
Does Connecticut require hospitals to give free or discounted care?
Connecticut has a law that requires hospitals to give free or discounted care to people with income up to 250% of the federal poverty level.
Can medical debt be reported to credit bureaus in Connecticut?
Connecticut law bans medical debt from credit reports. No health care provider or company that buys or collects medical debt may report any part of a medical debt to a credit bureau.
How long can a medical bill be collected or sued on in Connecticut?
A lawsuit on an account, a simple or implied contract, or a written contract must be filed within 6 years after the right to sue arises. A lawsuit on an agreement that is not in writing (and not signed) must be filed within 3 years.
Can a medical debt lead to wage garnishment or a lien on my home in Connecticut?
A hospital, its affiliated providers and its collection agents may not garnish your wages for care provided on or after October 1, 2022 if you are eligible for the hospital bed fund. For any debt, Connecticut's general limit is stricter than federal law: no more than the lesser of 25% of weekly disposable earnings or the amount above 40 times the higher of the federal or Connecticut minimum hourly wage.
Do I have a right to an itemized bill in Connecticut?
If you are a self-pay patient, a hospital must give you an itemized bill within 30 days after you ask. It must list in plain language each service, supply or medication and its charge.
More help
Nearby states
Sources
- Conn. Gen. Stat. ch. 368z, 19a-673 to 19a-673d (official CGA text)
- Conn. Gen. Stat. ch. 368v, 19a-509, 19a-509b
- Public Act 24-6 (SB 395, 2024), medical debt reporting
- Conn. Gen. Stat. 19a-920 (2026 Supplement, ch. 368ll)
- Conn. Gen. Stat. 37-3a (ch. 673, interest)
- Conn. Gen. Stat. 38a-477aa, 38a-498, 38a-525 (ch. 700c)
- Conn. Gen. Stat. 19a-177 (ch. 368d, ambulance rates)
- Conn. Gen. Stat. 52-576, 52-581 (ch. 926)
- Conn. Gen. Stat. 52-361a (ch. 906)
- Office of the Healthcare Advocate: Medical Debt Rules in Connecticut