If you are worried about paying for cancer treatment, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) may be able to help. We can provide financial support if you don’t have health insurance. We can also help if you can’t afford to pay the part of your bill your insurance doesn’t cover. We want you to be able to focus on what matters most: your health.

MSK’s Financial Assistance Program offers financial aid to our patients who have the greatest medical and financial need. It’s for people with household incomes up to 5 times the federal poverty level who cannot pay for their medical care. You may join the program when you start getting care from us, or later on.

If you’re eligible for this program, we provide help in different ways, depending on your needs. We may pay the balance of your MSK hospital and doctor bills, after you pay what you can afford. We can lower our hospital and doctor fees. Or, your care may be free if you cannot afford to pay.

We understand that anyone can have trouble affording their medical bills. We encourage you to contact us if you need help. Your application to this program is confidential. MSK doctors and other medical staff do not know when someone has asked for help. We will never change how we provide care just because you asked us for financial help.

Who is eligible for financial assistance?

We base our financial aid on your family’s size and household income. Here’s how we decide what a family can afford to pay. First, we calculate your monthly household net income. That’s how much everyone who lives with you earns in a month after payroll deductions and taxes. The amount of income that’s left, after we deduct your regular monthly expenses, is what we think you will be able to afford each month.

Your household’s usual monthly living expenses may be the same or more than your net monthly income. If so, and if you have health insurance, MSK will accept what your insurance pays us as the full payment.

You may also have financial assets, such as a second home, stocks, certificates of deposits, savings, or other assets. If so, you may not qualify for assistance, or we may ask you to make a payment each month. Assets don’t include retirement or education accounts.

If you are eligible for the Financial Assistance Program, MSK will never charge you more than the amount billed to patients who have health insurance that covers medically necessary care.

The Financial Assistance Program is for patients who live in the U.S. To be eligible as a new patient, MSK healthcare providers must first confirm you need treatment at MSK. You also must let us know you are worried about paying your bills. If you’re already a patient at MSK, you can also apply.

If you qualify, you will be in MSK’s Financial Assistance Program for one year. Each year, MSK will ask you for your financial information again. We will use it to decide if you’re still eligible for financial help.

What you’ll need to apply

If you do not have any health insurance:

• You just need to show us proof of your household income for the past month. This can be your paycheck stubs, or a current bank statement if you have direct deposit.

If you have health insurance:

• You need to show us proof of your household income for the past month. This can be your paycheck stubs, or a current bank statement if you have direct deposit.
• Copies of all your usual monthly bills.
• Your most recent income tax return, including all schedules.
• Your checking account statements for the past 3 months. If you don’t have a checking account, you need other proof of payment. This can be receipts or other documents that show how much you paid for your usual monthly bills and living expenses.
• Documentation of assets and expenses. Assets include other properties, certificate of deposits, stocks, and savings. It does not include retirement accounts or education accounts, such as a 529 plan account.

Please note: We may ask you for more documents if we do not have all the information on this list.

Please mail your documents to:

Patient Financial Services, Box 319
Memorial Hospital
1275 York Avenue
New York, NY 10065

You can also fax your documents to 212-639-2085. Or, you can schedule an appointment to give them to your financial counselor. Your counselor’s phone number is on the letters Patient Financial Services sends to you.

After you give MSK your completed application, for now, don’t pay any bills from us. Wait until we let you know if you’re eligible for financial help.

Important information about the Financial Assistance Program

If MSK decides you can make a payment each month, it’s important that you make that payment. If you miss a payment, you’re defaulting on a financial obligation. MSK may ask a collection service to collect this debt if you don’t pay your bill within 60 days.

When you apply to our Financial Assistance Program, your application is not complete until we get all the information we ask for. It is very important that you respond to any requests as soon as possible. If we do not hear from you, we cannot complete your application and you will not get financial help. Our team is available to support you and answer any questions you may have.

For a copy of MSK’s billing and collections policy, please call Patient Billing Services. Our number is 866-248-1274. You can also visit www.mskcc.org/financial-assistance.

MSK may decide you’re not eligible for financial help. Please tell us within 30 days if you don’t agree with our decision. You can start an appeal by calling our Patient Financial Services Director at 212-639-7942. We will schedule an appointment for you to review our decision with our appeals committee. You may also call the New York State Department of Health at 518-402-6993 or 800-804-5447.

You can apply for financial assistance by doing any of the following:

• Click here to view and print an application.
• Call the Financial Assistance Program at 212-639-3810.
• Visit the Patient Financial Services office in Room C130 on the first floor of MSK at 1275 York Avenue, New York, NY 10065.