Help Paying Your Bill

California requires all hospitals to provide financial assistance to people and families who meet certain income requirements.  You or your family member may qualify for free care or reduced-price care based on your family size and income, even if you have health insurance.

Helpful Terms:

• “Charity Care” refers to the scenario where a patient or guarantor has no financial responsibility.
• “Financial Assistance” refers to the scenario where a patient or guarantor has some financial responsibility but at a discounted rate (i.e., a discount payment).

Charity Care and Financial Assistance are secondary to all other financial resources available to the patient, including the following (collectively, “Third-Party Coverage”):

• Group or individual Medical Plans
• Workers’ Compensation
• Medicare/Medi-Cal
• Other State, Federal, or Military programs

In those situations where payment sources are not available, for medically necessary hospital care received on or after Jan 1, 2022, Kindred Hospital will consider patients for Financial Assistance and Charity Care when Third-Party Coverage, if any, has been exhausted, based on the following criteria:

For patients who are eligible for Financial Assistance, in no event will such patient’s or guarantor’s responsibility exceed the amount Kindred Hospital would expect in good faith to receive from Medicare or Medi-Cal, whichever is greater, for providing such services. Such patients are also entitled to reasonable payment plan to allow payment of the discounted price over time.

How to Apply

Any patient may apply to receive free or reduced-price care. A patient seeking Charity Care or Financial Assistance must provide supporting documentation specified in the application unless indicated otherwise. The application form is included in the admission packet provided at the beginning of your stay, from our website www.kindredhospitals.com, or upon request at any Kindred Hospital.

For your application to be processed, you must:

• Provide information about your family (family includes people related by birth, marriage, or adoption who live together)
• Provide information about your family’s gross monthly income (income before taxes and deductions)
• Provide documentation for family income
• Attach additional information if needed.
• Sign and date the form.
• You do not have to provide a Social Security number to apply for financial assistance. If you do not have a Social Security number, please mark “Not Applicable” or “NA.”
• Mail or fax completed application with all documentation to your local Kindred Hospital site.
• To submit the application in person, please contact the on-site Kindred Patient Relations Representative.
• We will notify you of the final determination of eligibility and appeal rights, if applicable, within fourteen calendar days of receiving a complete financial assistance application, including documentation of income.

For additional questions or further assistance with completing the application contact the on-site Kindred Hospital Patient Relations Representative. You may obtain help for any reason, including disability or language assistance. 

You may obtain a copy of Kindred Hospital’s Charity Care and Financial Assistance Policy by contacting the on-site Kindred Hospital Patient Relations Representative, or by visiting the Charity Care and Financial Assistance Policy links below.

Hospital Bill Complaint Program

The Hospital Bill Complaint Program is a state program, which reviews hospital decisions about whether you qualify for help paying your hospital bill. If you believe you were wrongly denied financial assistance, you may file a complaint with the Hospital Bill Complaint Program.

Go to HospitalBillComplaintProgram.hcai.ca.gov for more information and to file a complaint.

More Help

• Help Paying Your Bill: There are free consumer advocacy organizations that will help you understand the billing and payment process. You may call the Health Consumer Alliance at 888-804-3536 or go to healthconsumer.org for more information.
• Kindred Hospitals will provide or assist patients and loved ones in obtaining interpretation or translation services as necessary and address the need of those with vision, speech, hearing, and cognitive impairments.

Covered California

You may qualify for a discount on a health plan through Covered California, a free service that connects Californians with brand-name health insurance under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Visit www.CoveredCA.com for more information.

Shoppable Services

You can find a list of Kindred Hospital’s “shoppable services” at the following web page: https://hospitalpricedisclosure.com/Default.aspx?ci=i6ONagzmVJ4SGUBWC7W82Q*-*

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services defines a “shoppable service” as a service that can be scheduled by a healthcare consumer in advance.

ATTENTION: If you need help in your language, please call or visit your local Kindred Hospital Patient Relations Representative to obtain more information. The office is open 8a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Aids and services for people with disabilities, like documents in braille, large print, audio and other accessible electronic formats are also available. These services are free.