{"data":{"id":"us-mt/50-5-121--2","jurisdiction":"us-mt","citation":"50-5-121","heading":"(Effective January 1, 2027) Hospital discrimination based on ability to pay prohibited -- community benefit and financial assistance requirements.","body":"(1) A hospital, critical access hospital, or rural emergency hospital must have in writing a policy applying to all patients, including medicaid and medicare patients, that prohibits discrimination based on a patient's ability to pay.\n(2) A hospital, critical access hospital, or rural emergency hospital may not transfer a patient to another hospital or health care facility based on the patient's ability to pay for health care services.\n(3) (a) A hospital operating as a nonprofit health care facility must have in writing:\n(i) a financial assistance policy consistent with federal standards and standards established by the department, applicable to the area the hospital serves; and\n(ii) a community benefit policy consistent with federal standards.\n(b) A hospital, critical access hospital, or rural emergency hospital operating as a nonprofit health care facility shall:\n(i) adhere to the written financial assistance and community benefit policies; and\n(ii) make the policies available to the public.","path":["TITLE 50. HEALTH AND SAFETY","CHAPTER 5. HOSPITALS AND RELATED FACILITIES","Part 1. General Provisions"],"source_url":"https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0500/chapter_0050/part_0010/section_0210/0500-0050-0010-0210.html","current_through":"Montana Code Annotated 2025","vintage":"","retrieved_at":"2026-09-14T04:56:08Z","sha256":"5e6e6aac820d4b12b024690a96a41b8bf7213dd4172f2d1ba7d7adc1409dae7c","source_id":"us-mt","stale":false,"prev":"us-mt/50-5-121","next":"us-mt/50-5-122"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}