Guides · Last reviewed October 22, 2026

Sutter Health financial assistance

Sutter Health says its hospitals give full charity care to uninsured patients at or below 400% of the federal poverty level. Insured patients with high medical costs can qualify too. The hospital policy does not cover most doctors, who bill separately.

Hospital financial assistance: who qualifies

Sutter's page lists these groups for its hospitals:

• No third-party payer. You have no insurance or government program paying any part of the bill, and family income is at or below 400% of the federal poverty level.
• Insured with high medical costs. Family income is at or below 400%, and your medical expenses for you or your family exceed 10% of family income. This counts expenses at the hospital and amounts paid to other providers in the past 12 months.
• Insurance benefits used up. You exhausted your benefits before or during the stay, and family income is at or below 400%.
• Emergency Department at Sutter Lakeside Hospital or a Sutter Rural Health Clinic. Family income at or below 400% is the only test listed.

For scale, using the 2026 poverty level of $15,960 for one person and $33,000 for a family of four, 400% works out to about $63,840 and $132,000. That is Billmira's own arithmetic, not a figure Sutter publishes, and Sutter applies its own current guideline table.

What the hospital policy provides

• Full charity care for uninsured patients at or below 400% of the federal poverty income guideline.
• Uninsured discounts above 400%: a standard discount of 40% off billed charges for inpatient services and 20% for outpatient services. At rural hospitals (Sutter Lakeside, Sutter Coast, and Sutter Amador), the discount is 20% for both.
• Write-off of your share for insured patients at or below 400% whose medical expenses in the past 12 months exceed 10% of family income.
• Interest-free payment plans for all patients.

Doctors are often billed separately

Sutter says its hospital financial assistance policy generally does not apply to doctors and some other providers who treat you in the hospital, including emergency room doctors, anesthesiologists, radiologists, hospitalists, and pathologists. They bill you separately, so ask each one about their own assistance. Nurses, therapists, pharmacists, technologists, and several other hospital staff are covered. Sutter publishes a list of excluded providers on its page.

Medical group (clinic) assistance

Sutter's medical foundations have a separate Low Income Uninsured Program:

• Uninsured patients at or below 200% of the poverty guidelines get free medical care.
• Uninsured patients above 200% can have their payment limited to 30% of annual household income.
• Uninsured patients get a 20% discount off medical services.

How to apply

1. Hospital: get the application from Patient Financial Services at the hospital's registration area, download it from Sutter's page, or call 855-398-1633 (8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday to Friday). A representative can help you complete it.
2. Medical group: complete the confidential Statement of Financial Condition and include your two most recent pay stubs or your most recent tax return. Fax to 801-575-1255 or mail to Sutter Shared Services, Central Billing Office, Attn: Charity Care Team Member, P.O. Box 619010, Roseville, CA 95661.

The page we reviewed does not list an application deadline, so ask when you call and apply as soon as you get a bill.

If you're denied, or the bill goes to collections

Sutter says its billing and collection policy prohibits wage garnishment, bench warrants, and property foreclosure, and limits when liens can be filed. If you believe you were wrongly denied hospital financial assistance, California's Hospital Bill Complaint Program (HospitalBillComplaintProgram.hcai.ca.gov) reviews those decisions. Free help is also available from the Health Consumer Alliance at 888-804-3536.

Keep copies of everything you send and note the date. For the federal rules that apply to nonprofit hospitals, see our hospital financial assistance guide, and to check your bill for errors first, see how to get an itemized bill.

Common questions

Sources

• Sutter Health: Help paying your bill (financial assistance) (reviewed October 22, 2026)

Billmira is a self-help information tool, not a law firm, and this isn't legal or medical advice. Billmira is not affiliated with or endorsed by Sutter Health. Policies change and differ by facility; check the official source above, the full policy PDFs on that page, and your own documents.