Description		Definition
AB 774		Assembly Bill 774 (Chapter 755, Statutes of 2006) established Hospital Fair Pricing Policies effective January 1, 2007. This legislation requires each licensed general acute care hospital, psychiatric acute hospital, and special hospital to increase public awareness of the availability of charity care, payment discounts, and government-sponsored health insurance; and to standardize its billing and collections procedures. SB 350 (Chapter 347, Statutes of 2007) amended portions of AB 774 effective January 1, 2008.  Charity care policies and discount payment policies must be submitted bi-annually to HCAI.  Health facilities operated by the State of California or licensed as a Chemical Dependency Recovery Hospital or a Psychiatric Health Facility are exempt from these requirements.
Application Form Effective Date		Effective date of a hospital's charity care / discount payment application form.
Charity Care		See Free Care.
City		The city in which the hospital is located.
Contact		The public contact name or hospital department for questions related to the hospital's fair pricing policy.
Discount Payment		Describes a situation where the hospital has determined that the patient does not qualify for charity care (free care), but is eligible for a discount and is expected to pay only a part of the bill.  Some hospitals offer several levels of payment discounts based on the patient's ability to pay.  Up to three Discount Payment levels can be reported to HCAI.  Under AB 774, a qualifying patient would not be expected to pay more than the amount paid by Medicare, Medi-Cal, Healthy Families, or other government-sponsored health programs, whichever is greater. Also called a Sliding Fee Schedule.
Effective Date		See Fair Pricing Policy Policy Effective Date.
Emergency Room		Indicates if hospital is licensed by the Department of Public Health to provide emergency medical services.  There are three (3) levels of licensed ER services:  Standby, Basic, and Comprehensive.
Fair Pricing Policy		As used in AB 774, fair pricing policy describes a hospital's charity care policy and discount payment policy.
Fair Pricing Policy Effective Date		Effective date of a hospital's fair pricing policy.
Federal Poverty Level (FPL)		The Federal Poverty Level (aka Federal Poverty Guidelines) are issued annually by the Federal Department of Health and Human Services.  The poverty guidelines are generally used for administrative purposes, such as determining financial eligibility for certain programs.  On the Search Results page, it represents the FPL percentage at which a patient is eligible for free care or a payment discount.  See FPL Chart.
Federal Poverty Level for Free Care		The FPL used by a hospital to determine if a patient is eligible for free care (charity care). See Charity Care.
Federal Poverty Level Range		The FPL range used by a hospital to determine if a patient is eligible for a payment discount (partial charity care).  See Discount Payment.
FPL Chart		A chart based on the federal poverty guidelines showing annual income as a percentage of the FPL for various family sizes.  See Federal Poverty Level (FPL).
Free Care		Free care is where the patient is not expected to pay any amount for provided services, based on the hospital's determination that the patient is unable to pay for that care.  As used in AB 774, charity care is the same as free care.
Hospital Name		The name under which the facility is doing business.  This name may be an abbreviation and/or differ from the facility's legal name.
Hospital Type		The type of hospital license, as determined by the Department of Public Health, required to comply with AB 774, including General Acute Care Hospital, Acute Psychiatric Hospital, and Specialty Hospital.
Income Type Used		The type (s)) of income used by a hospital to determine if a patient is eligible for charity care or payment discount.  The application form should be reviewed to see all income types used for making eligibility determinations.
Interest Received		Indicates interest income received used to determine eligibility.
Languages		AB 774 requires that fair pricing policies are "language appropriate".  In addition to 10 non-English languages, each hospital was allowed to describe other languages in which fair pricing policies are available.
Languages - Armenian		Indicates Fair Pricing Policy available in Armenian.
Languages - Cambodian		Indicates Fair Pricing Policy available in Cambodian.
Languages - Chinese		Indicates Fair Pricing Policy available in Chinese.
Languages - English		Indicates Fair Pricing Policy available in English.
Languages - Hmong		Indicates Fair Pricing Policy available in Hmong.
Languages - Korean		Indicates Fair Pricing Policy available in Korean.
Languages - Russian		Indicates Fair Pricing Policy available in Russian.
Languages - Spanish		Indicates Fair Pricing Policy available in Spanish.
Languages - Tagalog		Indicates Fair Pricing Policy available in Tagalog.
Languages - Vietnamese		Indicates Fair Pricing Policy available in Vietnamese.
License		See Hospital Type.
Payment Basis		The basis of payment for a hospital that uses a discount payment policy.
Pension Received		Indicates pension income received used to determine eligibility.
Salary Received		Indicates salaries and wages received used to determine eligibility.
Total Beds		The number of licensed beds (excluding nursery bassinets) stated on the hospital license.