Updated September 4, 2026. Quick answer: Montana requires every hospital to have a written policy barring discrimination based on a patient’s ability to pay, and requires nonprofit hospitals to maintain financial assistance and community benefit policies under state standards.
This guide is limited to the cited Montana hospital-nondiscrimination source and its stated scope.
What changes in Montana
- A hospital, critical access hospital, or rural emergency hospital must have a written policy applying to all patients, including Medicaid and Medicare patients, that prohibits discrimination based on a patient’s ability to pay.
- A nonprofit hospital must maintain a financial assistance policy consistent with federal standards and standards established by the state health department.
- The same hospital must maintain a community benefit policy consistent with federal and department standards, and must adhere to and make both policies available to the public.
Where this rule stops
The state health department’s own administrative rules set the specific numeric standards; the statute itself establishes the duty but does not state a specific FPL percentage.
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 Mont. Code Ann. § 50-5-121. Verify the current official text and the facility’s current policy before acting; this is a source-backed planning guide, not individualized legal advice.