Care Costs After Losing Medicaid: Affordable Options

Find affordable care where you live

Use the care-area selector to see actual health centers from HRSA’s public directory. City searches match the named city and state; ZIP searches show listed centers within 25 miles of an approximate area point when available. Other clinic and assistance directories ask for your location on their own sites. Call to confirm services, eligibility, fees and appointment access.

For a medical emergency, seek emergency help immediately. Do not wait to finish this checklist or receive an application decision.

Sources: Community health center access and sliding-scale fees — Health Resources & Services Administration (source opens in a new tab) · Health Center Service Delivery Sites — national directory data — HRSA (source opens in a new tab) · Find a free or charitable clinic by city or ZIP — National Association of Free & Charitable Clinics (source opens in a new tab) · Find your local 211 by address, ZIP or county — United Way Worldwide · 211 (source opens in a new tab)

Your care plan: what to do first and what to try next

Start the coverage check and a primary-care call in parallel. If one program is unavailable or has a long wait, try the next care route while keeping the first application active. Your clinician should decide which care can safely wait.

Plan A: a health center or free clinic for regular care

HRSA says community health centers serve people with and without insurance and assess fees on a sliding scale. Ask about a new-patient appointment, the fee assessment and how lab work or medicine is billed. A quoted office fee may leave out outside services.

Free and charitable clinics have their own service areas, eligibility rules, appointment processes and capacity. Use the NAFC locator and contact the clinic rather than assuming that every listed service is free or immediately available.

• Ask whether the clinic can be your regular point of contact, not just a one-time visit.
• Ask which records and financial documents it needs; send them only through that provider’s official process.
• If it cannot help soon enough, ask for another local option and discuss timing with a clinician.

Sources: Community health center access and sliding-scale fees — Health Resources & Services Administration (source opens in a new tab) · Find a free or charitable clinic by city or ZIP — National Association of Free & Charitable Clinics (source opens in a new tab)

Plan B: local assistance and a coordinated specialist referral

Use local 211 to ask about public or county medical-assistance programs, transportation and specialist-access resources. Names and eligibility differ by location; a county’s program is not a nationwide benefit. Some areas have no equivalent program.

Ask your regular clinic to coordinate any needed referral and records transfer. Before scheduling, confirm whether the specialist’s visit, tests and follow-up are included in a particular assistance approval. A referral alone does not guarantee free care or a short wait.

Sources: Find your local 211 by address, ZIP or county — United Way Worldwide · 211 (source opens in a new tab) · Financial assistance policies for tax-exempt hospitals — Internal Revenue Service (source opens in a new tab)

Plan C: hospital financial assistance

Ask the hospital for its financial-assistance policy, plain-language summary and application. Tax-exempt hospital organizations must maintain a written policy; approval, discounts and documentation follow that hospital’s criteria. There is no single national income cutoff or annual care price.

Confirm the exact facility and clinicians covered. Hospital approval may exclude an independently billing specialist, radiologist or outside laboratory. Ask for a written explanation of what remains payable and how pending bills are handled.

Sources: Financial assistance policies for tax-exempt hospitals — Internal Revenue Service (source opens in a new tab) · How to ask for financial help with medical bills — Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (source opens in a new tab)

Another limited route: Hill-Burton facilities

Some facilities retain obligations to provide free or reduced-cost care under Hill-Burton. The program does not cover every hospital or state, and you must apply and qualify. HRSA says it covers facility costs rather than private doctors’ bills. Confirm current participation before relying on an older list entry.

Sources: Hill-Burton free and reduced-cost care — HRSA (source opens in a new tab)

Keep prescriptions and follow-up in the plan

Ask the clinic or pharmacist about help with your prescribed medicine. NeedyMeds provides a patient-assistance program search; each program has its own eligibility and application process.

Compare the actual prescription, quantity, pharmacy and delivery costs before paying. A discount is not insurance, and a small medicine bill does not cap other care costs. Do not stop or substitute a prescribed medicine without asking the prescriber or pharmacist.

Sources: Prescription patient-assistance program search — NeedyMeds (source opens in a new tab)

Work on coverage while arranging care

Follow the state’s notice to understand whether Medicaid ended because documents were missing or eligibility changed. Ask about review or appeal steps and their deadlines. Losing Medicaid or CHIP may also open a Marketplace enrollment route; your eligibility result controls.

Sources: Medicaid and CHIP renewals: patient questions and next steps — CMS · Medicaid.gov (source opens in a new tab) · Marketplace coverage after losing or being denied Medicaid or CHIP — HealthCare.gov (source opens in a new tab)

If you need a self-pay backup

If a service is not covered and private payment is permitted, ask for an itemized quote and estimate where applicable. Confirm the total for the visit, tests, medicine and follow-up; ask about cancellation terms and any later insurance adjustment. Active Medicaid has billing protections, so confirm what may be charged before agreeing to pay privately.

The DFW directory below is a regional cash-price reference, not a national care or Medicaid network. Its independent practices are not presented as OpenVisit partners. Use the local resources above for other areas.

Sources: 42 CFR 447.15 — Acceptance of state payment as payment in full — Electronic Code of Federal Regulations (source opens in a new tab)

Common questions