Find help
You can do this yourself with the guides and letters here, and many people get free help from someone who does it every day. Who can help depends on your coverage.
Free help, by coverage
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Job-based plan your employer funds itself (self-funded)
U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration
Free benefits advisors at 1-866-444-3272. Your state insurance department usually cannot help with these plans.
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Job-based plan bought from an insurer, Marketplace and individual plans
Your state insurance department, and your state's consumer assistance program where one exists
Free. They can take a complaint and explain your state's independent review.
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Medicare
Your State Health Insurance Assistance Program, and 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227)
Free, trained counselors in every state. They can help you file an appeal.
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Medicaid or the Children's Health Insurance Program
Your state Medicaid agency's appeals office, and your local legal aid office
The notice you received says how to ask for a fair hearing and by when. Legal aid often represents people for free.
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TRICARE, Veterans Affairs, federal employee plans
The program's own patient advocate or appeals office
Each program has its own advocate and review process.
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A surprise bill from a provider outside your network
The No Surprises Help Desk, 1-800-985-3059
Free. English, Spanish and more than 350 other languages.
What help usually does, and does not do
- A state consumer assistance program or insurance department can explain your options, take a complaint, and sometimes contact the plan for you.
- A nonprofit case manager or advocate may work your case for you, if you meet their rules. Ask what they will do and who qualifies.
- A lawyer can tell you about rights this site cannot, especially for job-based plans, disability, or a lawsuit. Legal aid offices help people with low incomes for free.
- Paid advocates and appeal services vary a great deal. Here is what to ask first.
Organizations that help
- Program or service
1-800-MEDICARE: talk to a person about Medicare
The Medicare phone line and live chat, open all day every day. Staff can point you to the right step for a complaint, and can pass an unresolved complaint to the Medicare Beneficiary Ombudsman.
From Medicare (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services)
- Program or service
American Cancer Society 24-hour helpline
A phone and chat line staffed around the clock by cancer information specialists who answer questions and connect you to services. It is an information and referral line, not an appeals service.
From American Cancer Society
- Program or service
Cancer Legal Resource Center and Cancer Justice helpline
A legal helpline and resource library for people with cancer, run by the Disability Rights Legal Center. Covers legal questions about insurance, work and money. Whether staff can take your case is not stated.
From Disability Rights Legal Center
- Program or service
Community Health Advocates (New York)
New York State's designated consumer assistance program: a free helpline and local advocates for New Yorkers with any kind of coverage, plus do-it-yourself appeal guides. Open to New York residents only.
From Community Service Society of New York
- Program or service
Connecticut Office of the Healthcare Advocate
A free Connecticut state office that helps residents understand their benefits and speaks up for them when a claim or a prior authorization request (advance approval for care) is denied. Open to people with any kind of coverage.
From State of Connecticut, Office of the Healthcare Advocate
- Program or service
Consumer Assistance Programs: state health insurance help
A federal map of state Consumer Assistance Programs that help people with health insurance problems by phone, mail, email or in person, and what to try if your state has none.
From Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
- Program or service
Employee Benefits Security Administration help line and Ask EBSA
Free phone and online help from federal benefits advisors for people in employer health plans. They explain your rights and possible next steps, and may help you recover benefits you are owed.
From U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration
- Program or service
Health Consumer Alliance (California)
A statewide partnership of legal aid organizations offering free help by phone or in person to Californians with Medi-Cal, Covered California or private coverage, including disputing denials and billing problems.
From Health Consumer Alliance
- Program or service
LawHelp.org free legal information and legal aid finder
A site that points you to free legal information and nonprofit legal aid providers in your state. It is a starting point for finding a program; it does not appeal a denial for you.
From LawHelp.org
- Program or service
Legal Action Center free legal help in New York
Free legal help for New Yorkers with substance use disorders or mental health care needs, including insurance barriers to treatment. Nationwide help is limited to certain addiction-medication cases.
From Legal Action Center
- Program or service
Legal Services Corporation: find free legal aid
A search page that finds a civil legal aid organization near you. These organizations serve low-income people; the page does not say whether a local program takes health insurance cases.
From Legal Services Corporation
- Program or service
Legal Services Corporation: find legal aid near you
A search by address or city for civil legal aid organizations funded by the Legal Services Corporation, which supports free legal help for low-income Americans, with a link to LawHelp.org for information and forms.
From Legal Services Corporation
- Program or service
Maryland Attorney General: Health Education and Advocacy Unit
A free Maryland mediation service that helps with denied coverage from private health plans, plan terminations, surprise bills, hospital financial assistance and billing disputes.
From Office of the Attorney General of Maryland, Consumer Protection Division
- Program or service
Medical Bill Rights: find an action plan for your medical bill
A five-minute federal questionnaire about your billing problem that gives you suggested next steps, whether you already have a bill or are planning for care.
From Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
- Program or service
Medicare Beneficiary Ombudsman
A federal office that helps with Medicare complaints and information requests that your plan or 1-800-MEDICARE has not resolved. You reach it by asking a 1-800-MEDICARE representative to send it on.
From Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
- Program or service
Medicare Rights Center national helpline
Free phone counseling for people with Medicare, their families and caregivers on benefits, denials and appeals, and cost-saving programs. Spanish is available. It covers Medicare only.
From Medicare Rights Center
- Program or service
National Alliance on Mental Illness HelpLine
A free, confidential helpline for mental health information, support and resources. It does not do individual advocacy or casework, so it will not fight a denial for you. In a crisis, call or text 988.
From National Alliance on Mental Illness
- Program or service
National Association of Insurance Commissioners: find your state insurance department
A national directory where you pick your state or territory to find its insurance department, get contact details and start a complaint. Useful for plans bought from an insurance company.
From National Association of Insurance Commissioners
- Program or service
National Disability Rights Network: find your state agency
A directory of the federally mandated Protection and Advocacy agencies, one in every state and territory, that provide legal advocacy for people with disabilities, including difficulty getting disability services.
From National Disability Rights Network
- Program or service
National Organization for Rare Disorders patient assistance
Financial help for people with certain rare diseases with medicines, insurance premiums, co-pays, testing and travel, plus a patient services line. It is financial help, not an appeals service. Condition-specific.
From National Organization for Rare Disorders
- Program or service
Patient Advocate Foundation case management
Free one-on-one help from a case manager who can work on insurance denials and prior authorizations for patients with a serious or chronic condition who meet the program's rules. Intake is by phone and new cases are limited each day.
From Patient Advocate Foundation
- Program or service
Persius: denial support
An organization that says it helps people fight inappropriate coverage denials for free, using artificial intelligence (AI) with human review. It also does research on denials.
From Persius
- Program or service
Smart NC: health claim denied (North Carolina)
A North Carolina Department of Insurance program that helps consumers resolve coverage disputes with their health insurance company. The page says there is no cost for its services.
From North Carolina Department of Insurance, Smart NC
- Program or service
State Health Insurance Assistance Program locator (shiphelp.org)
The national site for finding your local State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP), which gives free, one-on-one Medicare counseling, including help with complaints and appeals.
From SHIP National Technical Assistance Center
- Program or service
Triage Cancer legal and financial navigation
Free one-on-one phone help with health insurance, disability insurance, work and money questions from a cancer-focused legal-education nonprofit. It gives information, not legal representation or financial aid.
From Triage Cancer
- Program or service
Vermont Office of the Health Care Advocate (VTLawHelp)
A free helpline for Vermonters with health care and health insurance problems, run as a project of Vermont Legal Aid. Its website also has plain-language pages on appeals, grouped by the kind of coverage you have.
From Office of the Health Care Advocate, a project of Vermont Legal Aid
- Program or service
Veterans Affairs patient advocate program
Every VA medical facility has a patient advocate who handles concerns from veterans and families. The advocate can help with a care problem and, if needed, help you file an appeal.
From U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration