Yes, the waiving of medical fees sometimes happens, but &quot;financial need&quot; is a pretty high bar to meet. I was saddled with around $10K of medical debt after a bike accident a few years back <i>when I was unemployed</i> because a) I had made $70K the previous year and b) they don&#x27;t consider student loan payments when calculating income. And that was <i>with</i> insurance (a high deductible combined with some things not being covered because they were out-of-network; the accident occurred on a different coast from any in-network-provider).