Health
Community health centres and how their fees are set
Federally funded clinics that must serve their area regardless of ability to pay, with fees set on a sliding scale.
Federally qualified health centres are funded to provide primary care in underserved areas and are required to serve patients regardless of ability to pay. Charges are set on a sliding scale against household income and size, which is applied for with documentation rather than assumed.
They generally provide more than primary care under one roof — often dental, behavioural health, pharmacy and sometimes vision — which matters because the alternative is coordinating several separate providers.
Insurance is accepted where a patient has it, including public programmes, and many centres will help with enrolment during the visit. Being insured does not make somebody ineligible to use one.
A national finder lists every centre by address. Separate networks exist for free and charitable clinics, which operate on a different model and are worth searching for alongside.
What to do next. Use the federal health centre finder for your address and ask about the sliding fee scale when you book.
studentaid.gov outranks this page. Rules, figures and dates change
between academic years. This is written to help you read the official sources, not to
stand in front of them. Start there.
Nothing here is a determination. We cannot tell you what you qualify
for, and no website can. The programme and the office that runs it decide that, after
you apply.
Still have a question?
Describe what you are trying to work out and a member of the team will answer, or direct you to the office that makes the decision.