Updated September 4, 2026. Quick answer: Wisconsin requires every licensed hospital, not just nonprofits, to file an annual public report describing how it informs patients about charity care and how to apply.
This guide is limited to the cited Wisconsin hospital-data source and its stated scope.
What changes in Wisconsin
- A hospital must provide data on the hospital’s means of informing the public about charity care available at that hospital and a description of the procedure for obtaining the care.
- This chapter applies to health care providers licensed in the state generally, not only to hospitals that qualify as 501(c)(3) nonprofits under federal law.
- The filed data, including itemized annual charity-care and bad-debt dollar amounts and patient counts, becomes public information through the state Department of Health Services.
Where this rule stops
This is a disclosure and reporting duty, not a state-set income threshold; Wisconsin does not itself dictate the FPL percentage a hospital must use, only that the hospital must publicly describe and report on whatever charity-care procedure it has.
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 Wis. Admin. Code §§ DHS 120.12(1)(a)3, 120.25(2)(a), 120.02. Verify the current official text and the facility’s current policy before acting; this is a source-backed planning guide, not individualized legal advice.