Updated September 4, 2026. Quick answer: Massachusetts runs its own state-funded Health Safety Net that reimburses hospitals for free or discounted care to low-income uninsured and underinsured residents.
This guide is limited to the cited Massachusetts Health Safety Net source and its stated scope.
What changes in Massachusetts
- The Health Safety Net Trust Fund reimburses hospitals and community health centers for a portion of the cost of reimbursable health services provided to low-income, uninsured, or underinsured residents.
- An uninsured patient is defined as a Massachusetts resident with no health insurance plan and no eligibility for a medical assistance program.
- An underinsured patient is someone whose insurance does not pay, in whole or in part, for health services eligible for reimbursement from the fund, provided they meet income eligibility standards set by the Health Safety Net Office.
Where this rule stops
The specific income and FPL eligibility tiers are set by Health Safety Net Office regulation rather than spelled out as a number in the statute itself, so a reader needs to check the office’s current standards for their own eligibility band.
How to verify before you apply
- Identify the hospital or facility covered by the source and obtain its current policy.
- Ask for the current written policy and application instructions.
- Compare the policy with the official source below before relying on any threshold, discount, or deadline.
Related hospital-assistance guides
Primary source
Read Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 118E, § 66. Verify the current official text and the facility’s current policy before acting; this is a source-backed planning guide, not individualized legal advice.