New Jersey charity care
This state's rules reach every hospital in the state, whatever its tax status. Below: the five things that decide your bill in New Jersey — the free-care line, the discount line, whether the hospital must screen you, your application window, and your credit-report protection — each with its source.
The law: New Jersey Hospital Care Payment Assistance Program ('Charity Care') — N.J.A.C. 10:52-11
Figures marked from statute, regulation, or agency text read directly in our research pass. Checked October 19, 2026.
New Jersey measures your income the way that helps you most: the hospital must use whichever of the last 12 months, last 3 months (×4), or last month (×12) gives the lowest annual figure (N.J.A.C. 10:52-11.8(e)). If your income just dropped, that rule was written for you.
| Household size | Poverty guideline | Free-care line | Discount line |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $15,960 | $31,920 200% | $47,880 300% |
| 2 | $21,640 | $43,280 200% | $64,920 300% |
| 4 | $33,000 | $66,000 200% | $99,000 300% |
| 6 | $44,360 | $88,720 200% | $133,080 300% |
Guidelines: 2026 HHS Poverty Guidelines (Federal Register, January 2026). Lines shown use New Jersey's statutory percentages where the state sets them; "typical policy" marks the most common hospital-policy lines where it doesn't. Your hospital's policy is the deciding document — the kit shows you how to get it and read it.
At any nonprofit hospital in New Jersey: a written financial assistance policy must exist and be publicized; you have 240 days from the first post-discharge bill to apply; no extraordinary collection actions for 120 days or while a complete application is decided; charges for eligible patients are capped at amounts generally billed; and money paid above what you owed comes back when a submitted application is approved. The full plain-words version.
Get the HospitalBillDecoded Kit — $49
One payment of $49. No subscription. The kit is a web page you can return to and print — the application pack, the error checklist, the scripts, the deadline tracker, and the escalation ladder.
Free care reaches 200% of the poverty guidelines under New Jersey law — $66,000 a year for a household of four in 2026. The hospital decides individual cases from the application.
New Jersey gives you 365 days from the first post-discharge billing statement to apply — longer than the federal 240 days. The state clock is the one to use.
Partial — New Jersey's Louisa Carman Act (2024) bans credit reporting of medical debt under $500 and bars collectors from reporting medical debt in many cases; larger balances are not covered by the ban.