(1) “Agency” means the Agency for Health Care Administration.

(2) “Certification determination procedures” means the process used by the county of residence or the agency to determine a person’s county of residence.

(3) “Certified resident” means a United States citizen or lawfully admitted alien who has been certified as a resident of the county by a person designated by the county governing body to provide certification determination procedures for the county in which the patient resides; by the agency if such county does not make a determination of residency within 60 days after receiving a certified letter from the treating hospital; or by the agency if the hospital appeals the decision of the county making such determination.

(4) “Charity care obligation” means the minimum amount of uncompensated charity care as reported to the agency, based on the hospital’s most recent audited actual experience, which must be provided by a participating hospital or a regional referral hospital before the hospital is eligible to be reimbursed by a county under this part. That amount shall be the ratio of uncompensated charity care days compared to total acute care inpatient days, which shall be equal to or greater than 2 percent.

(5) “Department” means the Department of Health.

(6) “Eligibility determination procedures” means the process used by a county or the agency to evaluate a person’s financial eligibility, eligibility for state-funded or federally funded programs, and the availability of insurance, in order to document a person as a qualified indigent for the purpose of this part.

(7) “Hospital” means an establishment as defined in s. 395.002 and licensed by the agency which qualifies as either a participating hospital or as a regional referral hospital pursuant to this section; except that, hospitals operated by the department shall not be considered participating hospitals for purposes of this part.

(8) “Participating hospital” means a hospital which is eligible to receive reimbursement under the provisions of this part because it has been certified by the agency as having met its charity care obligation and has either:

(a) A formal signed agreement with a county or counties to treat such county’s indigent patients; or

(b) Demonstrated to the agency that at least 2.5 percent of its uncompensated charity care, as reported to the agency, is generated by out-of-county residents.

(9) “Qualified indigent person” or “qualified indigent patient” means a person who has been determined pursuant to s. 154.308 to have an average family income, for the 12 months preceding the determination, which is below 100 percent of the federal nonfarm poverty level; who is not eligible to participate in any other government program that provides hospital care; who has no private insurance or has inadequate private insurance; and who does not reside in a public institution as defined under the medical assistance program for the needy under Title XIX of the Social Security Act, as amended.

(10) “Regional referral hospital” means any hospital that is eligible to receive reimbursement under the provision of this part because it has met its charity care obligation and it meets the definition of teaching hospital as defined in s. 408.07.

History.—s. 4, ch. 77-455; s. 18, ch. 85-80; s. 8, ch. 88-294; s. 4, ch. 90-295; s. 6, ch. 91-48; s. 5, ch. 91-173; s. 85, ch. 92-33; s. 11, ch. 97-95; s. 23, ch. 97-101; s. 2, ch. 98-89; s. 4, ch. 98-191.