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Guide to Creating a Sliding Fee Scale (With Free Worksheets)

Step-by-step instructions on how to create a sliding fee scale so you can provide affordable healthcare services to patients in need — without sacrificing your practice’s financial health.

Key Takeaways

  • Sliding fee scales, also called sliding scale fees or sliding fee discount programs, improve access to healthcare by adjusting patient fees based on patient eligibility, household income, and family size, following federal poverty guidelines.

  • Healthcare providers — including behavioral health practices, mental health services, and community health centers — must define patient eligibility, set clear discount tiers, and document compliance to stay audit-ready and financially sustainable.

  • A consistent, well-communicated sliding fee schedule helps improve patient engagement, reduce administrative burdens, and support the long-term success of your practice.

Not every patient can afford the full cost of care — especially those who are uninsured, underinsured, or facing financial hardship. But as a healthcare provider, you’re often left with a difficult choice:

Do you turn patients away, or do you find a way to offer care at a lower cost?

If you choose to offer discounted rates, it’s critical to do so in a way that protects both your patients and your practice. A sliding fee schedule — also known as a sliding fee discount program — helps you offer reduced fees based on household income and family size, following the the Federal Poverty Guidelines. Offering financial assistance through a structured program helps ensure equity and compliance.

Here’s a step-by-step guide to create a compliant, sustainable sliding fee scale that supports patients in need while keeping your practice financially sound.

Why sliding fee scales matter for self-pay, uninsured, and Behavioral Health patients

In today’s healthcare environment, especially in behavioral health, mental health providers, and independent health centers, many self-pay patients and uninsured patients struggle to afford care. Whether facing financial hardship, lacking insurance, or dealing with high-deductible health plans, these patients often postpone or skip necessary treatment.

As a healthcare provider, you want to offer compassionate, affordable care — but you also need to keep your practice viable.

A sliding fee scale gives patients access to discounted services based on their financial situation while helping your practice stay compliant and financially healthy. But to be effective, your sliding fee discount program must be structured, consistent, and well-documented.

What is a sliding fee scale in healthcare?

A sliding fee scale, also referred to as a sliding scale fee or sliding fee discount program, is a structured approach healthcare practices use to reduce costs for patients who qualify based on patient eligibility, including household income, family size, and their position relative to the Federal Poverty Guidelines. Instead of charging a single flat rate, your practice adjusts fees to reflect each patient’s income and ability to pay.

These programs are commonly used in behavioral health, mental health services, and community health centers to promote equitable access to care — especially for uninsured or underinsured patients.

How to create a sliding fee scale for your healthcare practice step-by-step

Step 1: Determine usual and customary healthcare fees

Start by identifying the usual and customary fees for your healthcare services in your geographic area. This serves as the top end of your sliding scale.

For example:

  • Behavioral health therapy sessions may range from $90 to $150 per hour in Texas.

  • In New York, those same services may range from $140 to $200 per hour.

Setting this baseline ensures your sliding fee discount program remains aligned with market rates and the realities of your revenue cycle management. Consider using medical billing software to streamline fee collection and improve billing accuracy.

Step 2: Calculate your operating expenses

List all annual costs associated with running your healthcare practice:

  • Employee salaries and administrative staff costs

  • Malpractice insurance, liability coverage, and licensing fees

  • Rent or lease payments, utilities, and office maintenance

  • EHR systems, practice management software, and billing solutions

  • Marketing and outreach expenses

  • Loan interest or financing costs

Include costs for patient scheduling tools, automated reminders, and other services that support patient engagement. Include medical billing automation tools that reduce manual errors and improve collections.

Step 3: Define your desired salary

Now, you — as the healthcare provider — need to think about yourself. How much do you want to make this year? What will be your take-home salary? Add this number to the total expenses you determined above.

Step 4: Identify your minimum monthly income requirement

Add your total expenses and desired salary together. Divide by 12 to calculate the minimum monthly revenue needed to operate your healthcare practice sustainably.

Step 5: Estimate your average monthly patient volume

Review your patient data from the last 12 months:

  • Total number of visits or sessions

  • Average patient visits per month

This helps you understand the realistic number of billable sessions that support your reimbursement goals. A practice management software system can help track this data more effectively and flag reimbursement issues early.

Step 6: Calculate your minimum fee per visit

Now, divide the minimum monthly income necessary for a successful practice from Step 4 by the average number of monthly client visits in Step 5. 

This is the minimum sustainable fee for your services — the baseline for your sliding fee schedule.

Important: Never set your sliding fee scale below this minimum. While offering discounts to self-pay patients, uninsured patients, or underinsured patients is a valuable service, undercharging below your break-even point puts your healthcare practice at risk.

Step 7: Set your schedule

Using the U.S. Federal Poverty Guidelines, you will determine what fees you will charge based on your patient’s income and the minimum and maximum fees you have determined. This will allow you to create your sliding fee schedule. 

Patients at or below 100% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) will pay the minimum fee you determined while patients above the FPL will pay incrementally more until you reach your maximum set fee based on the usual and customary fees you determined in Step 1.

Example Sliding Fee Schedule

Here is an example of a sliding scale based on a minimum fee of $30 per hour and maximum fee of $150. Use a current federal poverty level (FPL) chart to determine a patient’s income bracket.

Federal Poverty LevelFee<100% FPL$30100 – 200% FPL$70200 – 300% FPL$110>300% FPL$150

Step 7: Define patient eligibility and required documentation

To maintain fairness and compliance, clearly outline:

  • Who qualifies for discounted fees (patient eligibility)

  • Required documentation for proof of the patient’s income, including:

    • Tax returns or W-2 forms

    • Pay stubs or unemployment benefits

    • Medicaid enrollment or denial letters

    • Social Security benefits statements

    • Proof of being uninsured or underinsured

    • Verification of household size

Considering Medicaid, Social Security, and Uninsured Patients

When defining your sliding fee discount program, it’s critical to consider patients who are:

  • Receiving Medicaid benefits or denied Medicaid coverage

  • Living on Social Security income or disability benefits

  • Completely uninsured or underinsured

These factors should be reflected in your patient eligibility requirements and documentation process to ensure fairness and compliance.

Step 8: Develop a written sliding fee policy

You will now need to develop a written policy to lay out the process by which patients will qualify and re-certify for your reduced fees as well as the type of documentation you will require they provide. 

These can include proof of insurance (or lack thereof), proof of income (payroll stubs, tax returns, or unemployment benefits forms), family or household size, and proof of residency.

Your sliding fee policy should explain:

  • How patients can apply

  • What documents are required

  • How often patient eligibility is reviewed

  • How your practice handles sliding fee eligibility for insured patients (more on this below)

Post your policy where patients can easily access it — on your website, in your waiting room, and in patient onboarding materials.

Patient notice template for sliding fee scale

NOTICE TO PATIENTS:
This practice serves all patients regardless of ability to pay. Discounts for essential healthcare services are offered through a sliding fee discount program based on patient eligibility, including household size, patient’s income, and qualifying factors such as Medicaid eligibility, Social Security income, or uninsured status. For more information, please ask at the front desk or visit our website.

Click here to view a sample policy for a sliding fee schedule.

Step 9: Train administrative staff and standardize your process

Ensure your administrative staff understands:

  • How to collect documentation respectfully

  • How to verify patient eligibility accurately and consistently

  • How to handle patient scheduling and billing for discounted visits

  • How to protect patient data during eligibility determinations

  • How to account for uninsured patients and those participating in Medicaid or receiving Social Security benefits

Consistent application of your sliding fee discount program is essential to avoid compliance issues and ensure fairness.

Step 10: Create an application

Your next step is to set up a system for assessing income and household size for all patients. Patient intake software can help standardize documentation and speed up eligibility review to assist patients in determining whether they are eligible for your sliding fee discounts. 

The eligibility determination process must be conducted in an efficient, respectful, and culturally appropriate manner to ensure that administrative operating procedures for such determinations do not themselves present a barrier to care. 

Patient privacy and confidentiality must be protected throughout the process.

Step 11: Set a process for patients with insurance

Even patients whose insurance provides coverage for their mental health services may need help with their fees. You will need to set up a process for handling this issue. In such cases, subject to potential legal and contractual limitations, the fee charged for each pay class should be the maximum amount an eligible patient in that pay class is required to pay for service, regardless of insurance status.

For example, John Doe, an insured patient, receives a service for which you have established a maximum fee of $150. Based on John Doe’s insurance plan, his co-pay would be $90. You have also determined, through an assessment of his income and family size that he is at 150% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines and therefore qualifies for your sliding fee discount program.

Based on the sample sliding fee schedule above, a patient at 150% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines would pay $70. Rather than the $90 co-pay, you will now charge no more than $70 for out-of-pocket costs, consistent with your sliding fee schedule, as long as this is not precluded by the insurance contract terms.

Don’t forget to consult with your third-party payers and/or private legal counsel regarding the permissibility of discounting patients’ out-of-pocket costs relative to the terms and conditions of your private payer contracts.

Step 12: Apply your sliding fee schedule consistently

Once you have adopted a sliding fee schedule, you must apply it consistently and fairly. You cannot offer it to some clients and not others. One way to ensure the fairness of your administration is to create a form that gathers relevant information such as proof of household income and number of dependents from each patient.

Step 13: Review and update your sliding fee scale each year

Stay compliant and financially sustainable by:

  • Reviewing the latest Federal Poverty Guidelines

  • Reassessing your operating costs and revenue cycle management needs

  • Auditing your sliding fee process for consistent application

  • Updating patient eligibility criteria, patient-facing materials, and staff training

Serving patients in need — without undermining your practice

Whether you run a behavioral health practice, a solo mental health services office, or a community health center, a well-designed sliding fee discount program helps you balance patient care with financial sustainability.

  • Always apply your policy consistently

  • Never go below your minimum sustainable fee

  • Keep compliance and documentation at the center of your process. Learn more about price transparency in healthcare and how it ties into patient trust and satisfaction.

  • Consider uninsured patients, Medicaid participants, and those living on Social Security income fairly within your patient eligibility criteria

Streamline Payments and Simplify Your Billing Process

Ready to improve patient engagement, reduce no-shows, and make your billing process easier for both your team and your patients? A healthcare payment system can simplify collection and ensure you’re charging appropriately per your sliding scale. Tebra simplifies how you collect payments and apply discounted healthcare services fairly.

Take a Product Tour — Discover how Tebra helps independent healthcare providers automate reminders, streamline patient payments, and simplify eligibility checks.

📄 Read the Mental Health Case Study — See how one mental health practice improved collections and enhanced the patient experience.