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For navigators, case managers and social workers

A patient navigator is a person who helps someone find and use health care and coverage. Many are paid by clinics, hospitals and nonprofits, and some are volunteers.

Our free tools also work for the people who help others find care. You can use every tool with a client on a call, at a front desk or on a home visit. There is no account to make, and nothing you type is saved.

FindMyDirectDoctor Foundation is a national 501(c)(3) nonprofit that runs free, comprehensive health care access navigation tools. With a few facts from a client, such as their state, household size and income, you can check Medicaid, find nearby health centers, compare plan costs, look up hospital cash prices and, when nothing else fits, find an affordable doctor. Our Transparency page lists what the tools do not cover yet.

Walk a client through one short questionnaire and print their plan. Tick the helper box on the first screen, so the questions say "they". The box only changes the wording and adds an anonymous helper count.

Try the questionnaire with a client

Who this page is for

  • Navigators, including federally funded Marketplace Navigators
  • Case managers and social workers
  • Community health workers and promotores
  • 2-1-1 staff and benefits screeners
  • School nurses
  • Hospital financial counselors
  • Family members helping someone they love

The whole path, on one page

How people find their way to care

  1. Reach and learn

    Free guides in English and Spanish, Google searches, news stories, navigators and community groups.

  2. People use our free platform

    On their own or with a navigator or case manager.

A few quick questions

Get covered

  1. Step 1. See if you qualify

    See if you can get Medicaid, CHIP or help paying for a Marketplace plan. Apply once, and you are checked for all of them.

    Already on Medicaid? Keep your address up to date with your state. If it mails you a renewal form, fill it out and send it back by the date on the form, so you keep your coverage.

    Check Medicaid and coverage help

  2. Step 2. Compare your plan choices

    Compare a regular plan with a lower-cost plan paired with direct primary care, for a job plan or a Marketplace plan.

    Compare plan costs

Everyday care now

  1. Step 3. Everyday care near you

    Checkups, ongoing conditions and sick visits. Community health centers serve everyone and charge by income. Free clinics see many people at no cost.

    Find a health center near you

  2. Step 4. Find an affordable doctor

    If no health center fits, find a cash-pay primary care doctor near you. A cash-pay doctor is not insurance.

    Find an affordable doctor

Tests, scans and hospital care

  1. Step 5. Lower your hospital costs

    Ask the hospital for financial help first, know your rights when you pay cash, and see what hospitals near you charge.

    Get help with hospital bills

Available at every step

Here is how to read it. Start with safety. The red bar at the bottom of this page has the emergency and crisis numbers. Then ask the quick questions about age, Medicare, veterans and American Indian or Alaska Native status, because those people have extra options. Most of them can also apply for Medicaid. People on Medicare should not buy a Marketplace plan. After that, two things can happen at the same time. The client can apply for coverage, and they can get everyday care now at a health center while they wait. For tests, scans and hospital care, the first step is coverage and the hospital's own financial help. The cash-pay directory is the last stop for everyday care, when nothing else fits.

How to use each tool with a client

Start with the questions. Sit with your client, or let them answer alone. The plan shows their next steps in order, and you can print it. Answer a few questions and get your plan.

Medicaid and coverage check. Ask for the client's state and the people in their family: themselves, a spouse, the children they take care of and any baby they are expecting. Then ask for the family's income before taxes, by the month or by the year. If income just dropped, such as after a job loss, use what they make now. For help paying for a Marketplace plan, use what the family expects to earn for the whole year, because extra help may have to be paid back at tax time. Pick the line that fits them best, such as pregnant or a parent. For a family, run it once for the parent and again for the children, because children often qualify when a parent does not. If the result says they may qualify, help them apply on HealthCare.gov or their state's own site. One application checks Medicaid, CHIP and help paying for a Marketplace plan. Only the state Medicaid office and the Marketplace decide, so someone near the limit should apply anyway. If the client has a disability or large medical bills, they should apply too, because other Medicaid paths may fit. A pregnant client can often get short-term Medicaid the same day at a clinic or health center while the full application is checked.

Health center finder. Ask for the client's ZIP code. You get the closest community health centers. Then enter family size and income to estimate the discount. Tell the client to bring proof of income if they have it. Health centers see people even when they cannot pay. This finder does not list free clinics itself. Use the free clinic guide for those.

Plan cost comparison. Ask where the client gets insurance now: a job, a plan they buy themselves, or none. Then ask about how much care they use in a year. Show them both yearly totals side by side. If the client's income is low, a Silver plan on HealthCare.gov or the state's site may come with a much lower deductible and lower copays. The tool shows a note about this discount, so check the real Silver plan before the client switches plans. If the client knows their plan's numbers, use the version with your own numbers.

Hospital bills and price finders. Start with our step-by-step cheat sheet on how to lower a hospital bill. For a test, scan or hospital stay, help the client ask the hospital for financial help first. Nonprofit hospitals must have a financial help policy, and many people qualify without knowing it. If the client already got a bill, they can usually still apply. Many hospitals can also sign up a client who likely qualifies for short-term Medicaid on the same day, so ask about this too. Then ask for the client's ZIP code and the test their doctor ordered. Pick the closest match on the list. You will see what nearby hospitals charge people who pay cash. Anyone who pays cash can ask for a written Good Faith Estimate before the test. If the final bill is $400 or more above that estimate, the client can dispute it.

Find an affordable doctor. When no health center fits, the directory lists about 20,000 cash-pay doctors for everyday primary and preventive care. A cash-pay doctor or direct primary care membership is not insurance. It does not pay for hospital care. Remind the client to ask each practice for its price before the first visit.

We also have a test version of an AI helper that clients can type or speak to. We are planning an AI calling assistant that would make routine calls to clinics, pharmacies and billing offices. The calling assistant is not built yet.

Dates and rules to know

Rules last checked: , reviewed by Harsha Moole, MD

  • Medicaid and CHIP: people can apply any time of year.
  • Apply soon if there are recent medical bills: today, Medicaid can often pay bills from up to three months before someone applies. For applications made on or after January 1, 2027, this drops to one or two months.
  • Marketplace open enrollment for 2027 plans: in states that use HealthCare.gov, it runs from November 1, 2026 to January 15, 2027. Sign up by December 15 for coverage that starts January 1. After that, coverage starts February 1. States with their own sites set their own dates.
  • Lost coverage: after losing job-based coverage or Medicaid, people usually have 60 days to sign up for a Marketplace plan.
  • Medicaid work rules and renewals: in states that expanded Medicaid, many adults ages 19 to 64 will need to show work, school, job training or volunteer hours each month. This starts by January 1, 2027, and some states may start later. It applies when people apply and when they renew. Some people are exempt, such as pregnant people, many parents and people with serious health problems, so help clients report anything that makes them exempt. Many of these adults will also have to renew every six months. People who lose Medicaid for not meeting the work rules may not get help paying for a Marketplace plan either. Tell clients to open and answer every letter from the state.
  • Help paying for a Marketplace plan: the extra help ended after 2025. Help now stops at four times the federal poverty line. Tell clients to report income changes right away, because they may have to pay back help they should not have gotten.
  • Immigrant families: some rules for immigrants changed for Medicaid and CHIP on October 1, 2026, and change for Marketplace help on January 1, 2027. Health centers serve everyone, and emergency rooms must check anyone with an emergency. Children who are U.S. citizens can get Medicaid or CHIP even when a parent cannot. For questions about immigration and public benefits, refer families to a free legal aid group.

When your client needs more help

  • Find free, trained enrollment helpers near the client at localhelp.healthcare.gov.
  • Call 2-1-1 for local help such as food, rent and rides to appointments.
  • For Medicare questions, the free State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) helps at shiphelp.org.
  • Many health centers have staff who help people apply for Medicaid for free.

Print or save

  • Results are not saved, and they are not stored in a link. To keep one, print the page with your browser's print button, save it as a PDF or take a screenshot. Do this before you close the page.
  • Navigators can walk a client through one short questionnaire and print the plan. Answer a few questions and get your plan.

Your clients' privacy

  • No account and no sign-up.
  • Nothing you type is saved. We count only which kind of result a tool showed, such as a Medicaid result, and which next step was tapped, with no state, income or other answers. The tools run on your own phone or computer.
  • No names. Some tools ask simple facts, such as pregnancy, disability or how often someone sees a doctor, because those change the result. Those answers are not saved either.
  • Each tool has an optional box that says "I'm helping someone else (navigator, case manager or family member)." Checking it tells us how often helpers use the tools, with no names and no answers.

What the tools do not do yet

  • There are no log-ins, saved client lists, referral tracking or caseload reports. If your organization needs these, tell us. They would be a separate project.
  • The tools do not show real Marketplace plans or prices for a ZIP code. HealthCare.gov or the state's own site does that.
  • The tools are in English. We have 55 guides in Spanish so far.

Our Transparency page has the full list of what our tools do not cover yet.

Common questions

What does a patient navigator do?

A patient navigator helps people find and use health care and coverage. That can mean checking if a client may get Medicaid or finding a health center. It can also mean comparing plan costs, asking a hospital for financial help and finding an affordable doctor. Our free tools cover each of these steps.

Do you need a degree to be a patient navigator?

A degree is not always required. The rules depend on the program that hires or trains the navigator. Federally funded Marketplace Navigators, community health workers, case managers and social workers each have their own training rules. Ask the program you want to work with.

What tools can a navigator use with a client?

You can use every tool on this page with a client. They are the Medicaid and coverage check, the health center finder and the plan cost comparison. They also include the hospital price finders and the directory of about 20,000 cash-pay doctors. Our Find my options questionnaire puts the main steps into one plan. All of them are free, and there is no account to make.

Is client information saved by these tools?

No, these tools do not save what you type. There are no log-ins, names or saved client lists. We count only which kind of result a tool showed and which next step was tapped, with no state, income or other answers.

Build a tool with us

We work with foundations, health centers and community groups to adapt our tools or build new ones for the people they serve, such as a screener in Spanish or a tool for a specific county. We do this at no cost to the groups we build with. Tell us where your clients get stuck, and we will build to fit.

Partner on a tool

We are a free, nonprofit navigation platform. We do not provide medical care.