Medical debt is crushing hospital patients in LA. Health officials may have a fix
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"Most people walk into the hospital and walk out without any knowledge of financial assistance," said Jared Walker, founder of Dollar For, a nonprofit that helps patients nationwide apply for aid, often called charity care.

That's fueling debt. It's also driving costly collection efforts that even hospital officials acknowledge pointlessly target low-income patients who are unlikely to be able to pay.

"They're turning their wheels trying to collect on debt that isn't collectable," said Adena Tessler, regional vice president for the Hospital Association of Southern California.

Presumptive eligibility

One potential solution is a system that automatically screens and qualifies low-income patients for financial aid without requiring an application. This is called presumptive eligibility .

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