Providers in these clinics offer sliding fee schedules to provide free or discounted care to uninsured or underinsured patients to make medical services more affordable. Discounted/sliding fee schedules are a means of addressing the need for equitable charges for services rendered to patients. A discounted/sliding fee schedule is developed according to local fee standards and must be in writing. Discounted/sliding fees are based upon federal poverty guidelines, and patient eligibility is determined by annual income and family size. Schedules are established and implemented to ensure that a non-discriminatory, uniform, and reasonable charge is consistently and evenly applied.

For patients whose household income and family size place them below poverty, a nominal fee is charged. Patients between 101-200% of poverty are expected to pay some percentage of the full fee. A discounted/sliding fee schedule applies only to direct patient charges. Billing for third party coverage (Medicare, Medicaid, SCHIP or private insurance carriers) is set at the usual and customary full charge.

This dataset include mental health, dental, and primary care clinics. All Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), FQHC-Look-Alikes (FQHC-LALs), National Health Service Corp, Arizona Loan Repayment, and J-1 visa waiver sites are required to apply the discounted/sliding fee-schedule equally, consistently and on a continuous basis to all recipients of services in their site and/or location, without regard to the particular clinician that treats them.

Data sources: National Health Service Corps (NHSC), Arizona Alliance for Community Health Centers (AACHC), and HRSA State Loan Repayment Program (SLRP).

Last Updated: September 2023

Update Frequency: Annually