Charity care in Nevada: who gets free or discounted care

Nevada has a state charity-care law, but it does not set one income limit: each hospital's policy decides who gets free or discounted care.

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.

What the law says in Nevada

The law

Nevada uninsured patient discount and hospital indigent care duty

Law: NRS 439B.260; NRS 439B.300 to 439B.340; NRS 439B.115, 439B.260, 439B.300-439B.340

Which hospitals

The 30% discount applies to major hospitals: hospitals with 200 or more beds (or part of an affiliated group in a county with 200 or more beds combined) that are not run by a government agency. The indigent care duty applies to hospitals with more than 100 beds in counties with two or more licensed hospitals.

Who can get help

The 30% discount is for inpatients who have no health insurance, are not eligible for a public program that would pay the bill, and make reasonable arrangements to pay within 30 days after the hospital's notice. Nevada does not set income levels tied to the federal poverty level. Separately, each covered hospital must give free inpatient care each year worth 0.6% of its net inpatient revenue to indigent patients, as determined by the county. To count as indigent under state law, you must be uninsured, not eligible for Medicare, Medicaid or other public programs, within the county's asset limits, and under the very low household income limits written in NRS 439B.310. A county may use a broader definition.

Rural hospitals

The indigent care duty does not apply to hospitals with 100 or fewer beds or to hospitals in counties with only one licensed hospital.

The most you can be charged

A major hospital must reduce the total billed charge for an uninsured inpatient who qualifies by at least 30%.

Savings and other assets

For county indigent care, the county's limits on assets and other resources apply. The 30% discount has no asset test in the statute.

Who counts as your family

For county indigent care, the household is you and your spouse, parents, children, brothers and sisters who live with you.

Law: NRS 439B.115, 439B.260, 439B.300-439B.340

How to apply in Nevada

Deadline to apply

To get the 30% discount, you must make reasonable arrangements to pay within 30 days after the hospital sends the notice of the discount with your first bill after discharge.

Applying for coverage first

The 30% discount is only for patients who are not eligible for a state or federal program that would pay the bill.

Notice you must get

A major hospital must include a notice of the 30% discount, and who qualifies, on or with the first bill it sends you after discharge.

If you disagree

If you and a major hospital disagree about whether your payment arrangements are reasonable, either of you can take the dispute to the state's Bureau for Hospital Patients (part of the Governor's Office for Consumer Health Assistance). If a county decides you are not indigent, the statute provides for an appeal of the county's decision.

Other providers

A major hospital must also discount its outpatient pharmacy charges by at least 30% for patients eligible for Medicare.

Law: NRS 439B.260(4); NRS 439B.115, 439B.260, 439B.300-439B.340

Law: NRS 439B.115, 439B.260, 439B.300-439B.340

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 Nevada law.

Free tools, letters and checklist

Where to complain in Nevada

Attorney general: Nevada Attorney General, Bureau of Consumer Protection
A provider tried to collect without the required itemized statement or receipt, or a hospital collected while out of compliance with price-posting rules, or another consumer problem.
Debt collectors: Nevada Financial Institutions Division · 702-486-4120
A collection agency broke Nevada's medical debt collection rules.
Health insurance: Nevada Division of Insurance
A surprise emergency bill or claim problem with a state-regulated health plan.

Questions about medical bills in Nevada

Does Nevada require hospitals to give free or discounted care?

Nevada has a state charity-care law, but it does not set one income limit: each hospital's policy decides who gets free or discounted care.

Who counts as family for charity care in Nevada?

For county indigent care, the household is you and your spouse, parents, children, brothers and sisters who live with you.

Nearby states

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

National help