Got a US hospital bill as a visitor? What to do

What to do first

1. Keep every paper and email from the hospital, the doctors and any ambulance service. Separate providers often send separate bills.
2. Call your travel insurer, if you have one, before you pay anything. Ask what it needs for a claim and whether it pays the hospital directly.
3. Ask for an itemized bill. It lists every charge, line by line. Your insurer will usually want it too, and our guide to the itemized medical bill shows what to check.
4. Ask for the hospital's financial assistance policy and the application.
5. Ask whether there is a self-pay discount for patients who pay without US insurance.
6. Get every answer in writing, by email if you have gone home.

What a nonprofit hospital must do in an emergency

Every nonprofit hospital must have a written policy to give emergency care whether or not you qualify for financial assistance, and it may not demand payment before treating an emergency Source 11. You may still get a bill afterwards.

Other hospitals have emergency duties under other federal and state rules, which this guide does not cover yet. In an emergency, go to the nearest emergency room.

Can visitors get financial assistance?

Ask, because it depends on the hospital. A nonprofit hospital's financial assistance policy must cover emergency and other medically necessary care and must say who qualifies, but each hospital writes its own rules Source 11. Read the eligibility part of the policy, and ask the billing office whether it covers people who live outside the United States.

These federal rules apply to nonprofit hospitals only. For-profit and government hospitals are not covered by them, though state law may still apply Source 33.

To apply, ask for the application or download it from the hospital's website, include the income proof it asks for, apply as soon as you can and ask the hospital to pause collection while it decides Source 22. Our guide to charity care has the details.

If you had no US insurance

• For planned care, ask for a good faith estimate first. Uninsured and self-pay patients usually have the right to one when they ask for it, or when they schedule care far enough ahead. The minimum notice is 3 business days (CMS, published October 5, 2026).
• If the bill is far above the estimate, you may be able to dispute it through a federal process for uninsured and self-pay patients Source 55.

What you can negotiate

You can ask the hospital to lower the bill, even after financial assistance. You can:

• offer a lump sum you can pay now, in exchange for a lower total;
• ask for a payment plan with no interest;
• ask the hospital to wait while your travel insurer handles the claim.

Our guide on how to negotiate a medical bill has the order to follow and the words to use. Get any agreement in writing before you pay.

How to pay from abroad

• Pay only through the hospital's own channels: the phone number and website printed on the bill, or its patient portal. Ask the billing office which ways it accepts from abroad.
• Check who is asking. If someone calls or writes to you about the bill, contact the hospital through the number on the bill to confirm before you pay.
• Keep the receipt for every payment, with the account number.

If a debt collector contacts you

A collection agency must send you the details of the debt. You can dispute it in writing, and it must then pause collecting the disputed amount until it answers Source 66. The time you have, counted from its notice, is 30 days (CFPB, published January 29, 2024). Keep copies of everything you send, and write to the hospital too if you applied for financial assistance.

What about my visa or immigration status?

This guide doesn't answer visa or immigration questions. Our separate guide on immigration status and medical bills will cover these questions in general once an immigration attorney has reviewed it. For advice about your own case, talk to an immigration attorney or a nonprofit immigration legal service; the US Department of Justice keeps a list of recognized organizations.