The Loch Ness Monster is a legend. The Santa Claus question is best avoided. But perhaps the most improbable myth is true.

There is such a thing as free hospital care.

A California law implemented a year ago requires hospitals to have written policies for providing free or discounted care to low- and moderate-income patients who have no private or government insurance or are dramatically underinsured.

A Web site launched this week by the state Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development is aimed at making sure patients know what each hospital in California offers. It details who is eligible for free or discounted care at various hospitals and allows uninsured patients to figure out where they may qualify for the most affordable care.

"What has happened is that uninsured and underinsured patients have been charged three or four times what insurers and government programs pay," said Anthony Wright, executive director of Health Access California, a consumer advocacy group that sponsored the fair pricing law. "We certainly know of a lot of hospitals that say they provide free or discounted care, but the patients who were qualified were not aware of it."

The law requires uninsured patients, with income up to 350 percent above the federal poverty level, to pay no more than what Medicare or other government insurance programs pay for the same care. That means a single person who makes $35,735 could qualify for discounted care, as could a family of four with an income of about $72,275.

Patients who are insured but had medical costs in the past year exceeding 10 percent of their family's income also qualify if they meet other requirements.

At most Ventura County hospitals, uninsured or underinsured patients could qualify for free care if they make no more than 200 percent above the federal poverty level. A single person could make up to $20,420 and a family of four could make $41,300.

Simi Valley Hospital's free-care policy applies only to patients who need emergency services, though policies at some other local hospitals extend to other patients, too. At Simi, non-emergency patients can get discounts reducing charges to about half of what Medicare would pay. The discounts vary, but extend to patients who make four times the federal poverty level, or $40,840 for a single person.

Ventura County Medical Center's policy for free care applies only to patients with life-threatening injuries. Patients who make up to 350 percent of the federal poverty level may qualify for free care, though each case is reviewed, and the priority is to find out if they qualify for government assistance.

Many patients don't want a free ride and want to work out a plan where they can pay for at least part of their care, said Karen Schneweis-Schmidt, the hospital's patient accounting manager. She said the county offers a sliding scale of discounts that extends to uninsured single people who make as much as $80,000 or a family of two who makes $109,000.

"Even those people need help," she said. "If you have a $120,000 hospital bill, you need help."

Mike Ellingson, spokesman for Community Memorial Hospital in Ventura, said some of the summary information about the hospital's discount rates was posted incorrectly. Uninsured people who make as much as about seven times the poverty level, or $70,840 for a single person, may qualify for discounts both at Community Memorial and its sister facility, Ojai Community Hospital.

Some of the discounts for higher income people require they pay more than government insurance would pay.

"That's still a discount," said Wright, the consumer advocate who worries about uninsured people being charged more than anyone else "because they have no one to negotiate on their behalf."