Three things you can ask for when a medical bill looks wrong or too high, with the official pages behind each one.
This is general information, not legal advice. Laws change, and what applies depends on your situation. For advice about your case, talk to a lawyer or a patient advocate.
California hospitals have programs that reduce or remove a bill for patients who cannot pay in full. A California law, AB 1020, raised the income level the law covers from 350% to 400% of the federal poverty level, starting January 1, 2024.
Whether you qualify, and whether your care is free or discounted, is decided by each hospital's own policy. Ask the hospital for it.
We could not confirm from the official pages who qualifies or the exact free-care and discount levels, so we do not state them here.
Sources last checked: October 10, 2026
A Good Faith Estimate is a written estimate of what care is expected to cost, given before the care. It is meant for people who are uninsured or paying themselves.
The federal patient-provider dispute resolution process is for uninsured or self-pay people who received a Good Faith Estimate and told the provider they were uninsured or not using insurance. It looks at bills that are at least $400 more than the estimate. You must start within 120 calendar days of the date of the initial bill, and there is a $25 non-refundable administrative fee.
CMS decides whether a dispute qualifies. Our tool only compares your numbers with the $400 and 120-day figures CMS publishes.
We count 120 calendar days from the bill date you enter. CMS counts from the initial bill, so check the date with them.
The file is made in your browser and downloaded. Nothing you pick is sent or saved. The file holds only a date, a short title and a short note. It has no names, amounts, billing codes or bill details.
An itemized bill lists every service and supply with its billing code, date, units and charge. It is what you need to check a bill line by line.
If you have Medicare: federal law lets you send a written request to a physician, provider or supplier for an itemized statement of the Medicare items and services you received. The statute says it must be furnished within 30 days of your request, and sets a civil money penalty of up to $100 for each knowing failure to do so.
If you do not have Medicare: we did not find an official page we could cite that sets a right to an itemized bill for private-insurance or self-pay patients, so we do not claim one. You can still ask. Contact your provider or your insurer and ask for an itemized bill with a billing code for every charge.
Sources last checked: October 13, 2026