Financial Assistance Program

If you’re unable to pay your Essentia Health medical bills, ask about options for financial assistance. You may also review the plain language summary with options on how to pay for your medical care.

Do I Qualify for Financial Assistance?

You may benefit from the Essentia Health Financial Assistance Program if you:

• Meet certain income and asset guidelines
• Don’t have health insurance OR your health insurance policy doesn’t provide full coverage for medically necessary care
• Have big out-of-pocket medical costs and limited ability to pay
• Applied for other state or local assistance programs, such as Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP)

Financial Help for Medications

Need help paying for your prescriptions? Talk to a pharmacy coordinator about financial help available for medications. Call your local Essentia pharmacy to learn more.

How Does Financial Assistance Work?

The Financial Assistance Program provides a discount on eligible medically necessary services provided by Essentia Health. It is not an insurance program, and certain services and providers are not covered.

Income-Based Discounts

Your discount is based on your household income. You may be eligible for a discount if:

• your household income is less than 200 percent of the federal poverty level

Refer to the table below to see current income and asset guidelines.

2024 Essentia Health Financial Assistance Program (FAP) Poverty Income Guidelines
Household/Family Size	Federal Poverty Level	100% Discount if income is not more than:
1	$15,060	$30,120
2	$20,440	$40,880
3	$25,820	$51,640
4	$31,200	$62,400
5	$36,580	$73,160
6	$41,960	$83,920
7	$47,340	$94,680
8	$52,720	$105,440

*More than 8 persons in household add $5,380 for each additional person.

Uninsured Discount

If you do not have health insurance, Essentia will first apply the Uninsured Patient Discount to any qualifying services. Then, we’ll use the Financial Assistance Program income-based discount on the remaining balance, if you qualify for the program.

How To Apply For Financial Assistance

If you meet our eligibility for financial assistance, we have a few different ways you can submit your application for our team to review:

• You can apply in your MyChart account and upload the required supporting documentation here:
  • MyChart Login Page
• Download a copy of our financial assistance application:
  • Financial Assistance Application [PDF]  
  • Spanish language application: Asistencia financiera [PDF]
• Email your completed application and required supporting documentation here:
  • [email protected]
• Mail your completed application and required supporting documentation to:
  
  Essentia Health
  Attention: BSC – Financial Assistance
  402 E 1st St
  Duluth, MN 55805

Please be sure to return your application with all required documents within 30 days of the date we send you this application. Your account will be placed on hold during this period. Once your application with all documents has been received by our office, your account will continue to be held from collection activity until a determination is made. Please understand that Essentia Health will not continuously hold accounts due to lack of cooperation or timely follow up. If your application and required documents are not received on time, normal collection efforts may resume.

To qualify for ongoing financial assistance through Essentia Health, you must:

• Apply for public/private assistance if you qualify including Medical Assistance
• Provide a determination letter of any Medical Assistance disability claim
• Cooperate with all insurance plan requirements, including seeing a provider within your network
• Reside in an area serviced by Essentia Health
• Have received medically necessary and eligible services
• Reportable assets may not exceed $75,000 for a household of one, or $150,000 for a household of two
• Have household income that is within Essentia Health’s Financial Assistance Program guidelines

Catastrophic Discount

If you experience a severe illness or injury and your medical bills are greater than $5,000.00 you may qualify for Essentia Health’s Catastrophic Discount. The program is for households with an income above 200 percent of the federal poverty level who have exhausted all other payment options.

Financial Assistance Policy

Review our full Financial Assistance Program Policy [PDF].

Review a list of our Essentia Health locations eligible for financial assistance. 

Learn About Other Options

If you’re not eligible for the Financial Assistance Program, ask us about other programs that may help you pay your medical bills, such as short-term payment plans and long-term, zero-interest financing.

For uninsured patients who are or have received patient care, you can also work with Elevate Patient Financial Solutions. Elevate Patient Financial Solutions can help you seek assistance through county, state, and federal programs for your patient medical bills. Visit Elevate Patient Financial Solutions' website for contact information or to learn more.