The Florida Senate

395.701  Annual assessments on net operating revenues to fund public medical assistance; administrative fines for failure to pay assessments when due.--

(1)  For the purposes of this section, the term:

(a)  "Gross operating revenue" or "gross revenue" means the sum of daily hospital service charges, ambulatory service charges, ancillary service charges, and other operating revenue.

(b)  "Health Care Board" or "board" means the Health Care Board created by s. 20.42.

(c)  "Hospital" means a health care institution as defined in s. 395.002(12), but does not include any hospital operated by the agency or the Department of Corrections.

(d)  "Net operating revenue" or "net revenue" means gross revenue less deductions from revenue.

(e)  "Total deductions from gross revenue" or "deductions from revenue" means reductions from gross revenue resulting from inability to collect payment of charges. Such reductions include bad debts; contractual adjustments; uncompensated care; administrative, courtesy, and policy discounts and adjustments; and other such revenue deductions, but also includes the offset of restricted donations and grants for indigent care.

(2)  There is hereby imposed upon each hospital an assessment in an amount equal to 1.5 percent of the annual net operating revenue for each hospital, such revenue to be determined by the ¹department, based on the actual experience of the hospital as reported to the ¹department. Within 6 months after the end of each hospital fiscal year, the ¹department shall certify ²the amount of the assessment for each hospital. The assessment shall be payable to and collected by the department in equal quarterly amounts, on or before the first day of each calendar quarter, beginning with the first full calendar quarter that occurs after the ¹department certifies ²the amount of the assessment for each hospital. All moneys collected pursuant to this subsection shall be deposited into the Public Medical Assistance Trust Fund.

(3)  The department shall impose an administrative fine, not to exceed $500 per day, for failure of any hospital to pay its assessment by the first day of the calendar quarter on which it is due. The failure of a hospital to pay its assessment within 30 days after the assessment is due is ground for the department to impose an administrative fine not to exceed $5,000 per day.

(4)  The purchaser, successor, or assignee of a facility subject to the board's jurisdiction shall assume full liability for any assessments, fines, or penalties of the facility or its employees, regardless of when identified. Such assessments, fines, or penalties shall be paid by the employee, owner, or licensee who incurred them, within 15 days of the sale, transfer, or assignment. However, the purchaser, successor, or assignee of the facility may withhold such assessments, fines, or penalties from purchase moneys or payment due to the seller, transferor, or employee, and shall make such payment on behalf of the seller, transferor, or employee. Any employer, purchaser, successor, or assignee who fails to withhold sufficient funds to pay assessments, fines, or penalties arising under the provisions of chapter 408 shall make such payments within 15 days of the date of the transfer, purchase, or assignment. Failure by the transferee to make payments as provided in this subsection shall subject such transferee to the penalties and assessments provided in chapter 408. Further, in the event of sale, transfer, or assignment of any facility under the board's jurisdiction, future assessments shall be based upon the most recently available prior year report or audited actual experience for the facility. It shall be the responsibility of the new owner or licensee to require the production of the audited financial data for the period of operation of the prior owner. If the transferee fails to obtain current audited financial data from the previous owner or licensee, the new owner shall be assessed based upon the most recent year of operation for which 12 months of audited actual experience are available or upon a reasonable estimate of 12 months of full operation as calculated by the board.

(5)  A statutory teaching hospital that had 100,000 or more Medicaid covered days during the most recent fiscal year may elect to have its assessment imposed pursuant to subsection (2) deducted from any Medicaid disproportionate share payment due to such hospital for the quarter ending 6 months after the assessment due date. If the assessment is greater than the disproportionate share payment, or if no disproportionate share payment is due the hospital, the difference, or full amount of the assessment in cases in which no payment is due, shall be paid on or before the date the disproportionate share payment is made or would have been made.

History.--ss. 6, 7, ch. 84-35; s. 1, ch. 85-65; s. 3, ch. 91-48; s. 61, ch. 91-221; s. 93, ch. 92-33; s. 36, ch. 92-78; ss. 51, 98, ch. 92-289.

¹Note.--The word "department" was substituted for the word "board" by s. 93, ch. 92-33; this amendment was not contained in the amendment by s. 51, ch. 92-289.

²Note.--The words "to the department" preceding the word "the" were stricken by s. 93, ch. 92-33; the amendment was not contained in the amendment by s. 51, ch. 92-289.

Note.--Former s. 395.101.