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

Rhode Island has a law that requires hospitals to give free or discounted care to people with income up to 300% of the federal poverty level.

Rhode Island 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.

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

State bans and federal law

In January 2025 the CFPB issued a rule to keep most medical debt off credit reports. On July 11, 2025 a federal court in Texas vacated (cancelled) that rule at the joint request of the CFPB and the plaintiffs. The rule is not in effect.
On October 28, 2025 the CFPB published its view that the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act generally overrides (preempts) state laws that keep categories of information such as medical debt off credit reports. The CFPB also said its guidance is not binding and that courts decide these questions.
On August 10, 2026 a federal court in Texas declared that a Texas law barring credit bureaus from reporting certain out-of-network medical debt is preempted by the Fair Credit Reporting Act, and barred the state from enforcing it. That ruling is about the Texas law; laws in other states are decided case by case.

Law: Cornerstone Credit Union League v. CFPB, No. 4:25-cv-16 (E.D. Tex. July 11, 2025); CFPB; CFPB interpretive rule, Fair Credit Reporting Act; Preemption of State Laws, 90 FR 48710 (Oct. 28, 2025); Consumer Data Industry Ass'n v. Texas, No. 1:19-CV-876-RP (W.D. Tex. Aug. 10, 2026)

Checked against official sources: October 30, 2026.

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

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Can I get my bill reduced in Rhode Island?

Rhode Island has a law that requires hospitals to give free or discounted care to people with income up to 300% of the federal poverty level.

Income (% of poverty level)	What you get	Details
Up to 200%	Free care	If your yearly family income is at or below 200% of the federal poverty level, the hospital must give you full charity care (a 100% discount).
200% to 300%	Discount	If your yearly family income is above 200% and up to 300% of the federal poverty level, the hospital must give you a partial discount on a sliding scale. Each hospital sets the size of the discount.

These are the income levels written in the law. Each hospital decides using its own policy.

The law

Rhode Island charity care requirements and Department of Health charity care standards

Law: R.I. Gen. Laws 23-17-43; 216-RICR-40-10-23, sec. 23.14; 216-RICR-40-10-23, secs. 23.3 and 23.14 (Rhode Island Department of Health); 216-RICR-40-10-4, sec. 4.5.2

Which hospitals

Every licensed hospital in Rhode Island, as a condition of its license.

Who can get help

Uninsured, low-income Rhode Island residents (whatever their citizenship or immigration status) who are not eligible for state, federal or employer-sponsored health insurance.

Law: 216-RICR-40-10-23, secs. 23.3 and 23.14 (Rhode Island Department of Health); 216-RICR-40-10-4, sec. 4.5.2; R.I. Gen. Laws 23-17-43

All the details →

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 Rhode Island law.

Is my debt too old in Rhode Island?

Kind of agreement	Time limit to sue
Written contract	10 years
Open account	10 years
Oral (spoken) agreement	10 years

Unless another law sets a different period, a civil lawsuit must be filed within 10 years after the right to sue arises.

When the clock starts

When the cause of action accrues (the code does not say when that is for a medical bill).

Law: R.I. Gen. Laws 9-1-13(a)

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 Rhode Island?

Credit reports

Full ban

Health care providers, licensed health care facilities and certified emergency medical transportation services may not give any part of a medical debt to a credit bureau, and their contracts with collectors and debt buyers must ban reporting.

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Waiting rules

If a creditor or debt collector knows or should know that an internal review, external review or other appeal of a health insurance decision is pending within 60 days after you received the financial statement, it may not report the unpaid charges to a credit bureau, contact you to collect them, or start a lawsuit or arbitration. If the debt was already reported, it must ask the credit bureau to delete it. Every letter from a creditor, debt collector or collection agency about a medical debt must include this sentence: "The State of Rhode Island general laws prohibit credit bureaus from reporting medical debt or factoring medical debt into a credit score."

Interest

For medical debt incurred after June 26, 2025, interest may be no more than the weekly average one-year Treasury yield for the week before you were first billed, but not less than 1.5% or more than 4% a year.

Liens on your home

Starting January 1, 2026, no execution or attachment may be filed against your principal residence for a judgment in a lawsuit based on medical debt; filing one is slander of title. Under the Department of Health charity care rules, a hospital or its agent may attach, but may not force foreclosure of, your primary residence for an unpaid hospital bill.

Wage garnishment

Starting January 1, 2026, your wages may not be garnished for a judgment in a lawsuit based on medical debt.

Law: R.I. Gen. Laws 6-60-4, 6-26-11, 9-25-3, 10-5-2, 10-5-7, 10-5-8 (as amended by P.L. 2025, ch. 300 and 301); R.I. Gen. Laws 216-RICR-40-10-23, sec. 23.14.2

Surprise bills and ambulance bills in Rhode Island

Ground ambulance

No state limit listed

Rhode Island 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: R.I. Gen. Laws 27-18-76

Itemized bills and price estimates in Rhode Island

Rhode Island law gives you a right to an itemized bill.

Providers of services covered under a nonprofit medical service corporation plan must give each patient a copy of an itemized bill on request (not state-run hospitals).

Law: R.I. Gen. Laws 27-20-15

Health coverage and Medicaid in Rhode Island

Rhode Island Medicaid (Medical Assistance), applied for through HealthSource RI is Rhode Island's Medicaid program. Apply for it here:

Apply: Rhode Island Medicaid (Medical Assistance), applied for through HealthSource RI · 1-855-840-4774

Where to complain in Rhode Island

Hospital licensing: Rhode Island Department of Health
A hospital did not follow the charity care standards (income levels, notices, 14-day decision, appeals).
Health plan problems: Office of the Health Insurance Commissioner (OHIC)
Problems with a state-regulated health insurance plan.
Debt collectors: Rhode Island Department of Business Regulation, Division of Banking
A licensed debt collector broke state rules.
Attorney general: Rhode Island Attorney General, Consumer Protection Unit
A credit bureau or collector did not fix a medical-debt violation within 30 days after you told it.

Free help in Rhode Island

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Good to know in Rhode Island

If a credit bureau or debt collector does not fix a medical-debt violation within 30 days after you notify it, it owes you $10 a day, and the Attorney General can sue to stop it.
Law: R.I. Gen. Laws 6-60-5
A hospital may give more help than the state standards but may not give less or make it harder to qualify.
Law: 216-RICR-40-10-23, sec. 23.14.1(A)(1)
Hospitals must not discourage people who cannot pay from seeking essential care or steer them to other providers.
Law: 216-RICR-40-10-23, sec. 23.14(A)

Changes in 2024–2026

January 1, 2025: medical debt credit-reporting ban, required collection-letter notice and pause during insurance appeals. June 26, 2025: interest cap of 1.5%-4% on new medical debt. January 1, 2026: no wage garnishment and no execution or attachment against your principal residence for medical-debt judgments.

Law: P.L. 2024, ch. 224 and 225; R.I. Gen. Laws ch. 6-60; P.L. 2025, ch. 302 and 303; R.I. Gen. Laws 6-26-11; P.L. 2025, ch. 300 and 301

Questions about medical bills in Rhode Island

Does Rhode Island require hospitals to give free or discounted care?

Rhode Island has a law that requires hospitals to give free or discounted care to people with income up to 300% of the federal poverty level.

Can medical debt be reported to credit bureaus in Rhode Island?

Rhode Island law bans medical debt from credit reports. Health care providers, licensed health care facilities and certified emergency medical transportation services may not give any part of a medical debt to a credit bureau, and their contracts with collectors and debt buyers must ban reporting.

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

Unless another law sets a different period, a civil lawsuit must be filed within 10 years after the right to sue arises.

Can a medical debt lead to wage garnishment or a lien on my home in Rhode Island?

Starting January 1, 2026, your wages may not be garnished for a judgment in a lawsuit based on medical debt.

Do I have a right to an itemized bill in Rhode Island?

Providers of services covered under a nonprofit medical service corporation plan must give each patient a copy of an itemized bill on request (not state-run hospitals).

More help

Nearby states

Sources

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