Low-cost care access
Most prices in a medical bill are set without asking what the patient earns. A smaller group of providers sets them with income in view, and federally funded health centers are the clearest case. By federal rule they must keep a schedule of discounts tied to the HHS poverty guidelines: a full discount at or below 100 percent of the guideline, partial discounts above it, and none above 200 percent. That rule is public, it is the same in every state, and it is what makes an income-based price something a patient can check instead of something a front desk decides.
This section currently holds one guide, the sliding fee scale at community health centers. It prints the 2026 poverty guidelines for each household size, doubles them to show where the discount ends, and works one household through the arithmetic. Other clinics and hospital programs write their own terms, so wherever a page here describes one, it names the rule it relies on and says what that rule leaves to the provider.
Teeth and eyes sit at the edge of most coverage, and they are also where income-based options matter most. Two older pages touch that edge today: the cataract surgery price page, with the Medicare anchors and the eyeglasses rule, and the HSA and FSA guide, which explains the limited-purpose account for dental and vision spending. Guides on lower-cost dental and eye care will be added here as their sources are checked.
Income-based prices have neighbors, and the pages in this section keep them apart. A health center discount is set by a federal schedule rule and applied by the center. Hospital financial assistance is set by each hospital's own policy, under tax rules for nonprofit hospitals, and is covered in the guide linked below. Medicaid is decided by the state, and its coverage can reach back to cover bills that arrived before the application. A household can use more than one, and the order matters: income-based programs come before any loan or payment product, because, as the CFPB notes, signing up for a financing product first may make it harder to get assistance afterward.
As everywhere on this site, the scope is prices and billing mechanics. Nothing here says which clinic to choose or what care to seek. Ask any provider to confirm the price in writing before service, including the discount class it has placed you in.