Description |
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Definition |
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AB 774 |
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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. |
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Application
Form Effective Date |
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Effective date of a hospital's
charity care / discount payment application form. |
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Charity
Care |
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See Free
Care. |
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City |
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The city in which the hospital
is located. |
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Contact |
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The public contact name or
hospital department for questions related to the hospital's fair pricing
policy. |
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Discount Payment |
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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. |
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Effective
Date |
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See Fair
Pricing Policy Policy Effective Date. |
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Emergency
Room |
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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. |
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Fair
Pricing Policy |
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As used in AB 774, fair pricing
policy describes a hospital's charity care policy and discount payment
policy. |
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Fair
Pricing Policy Effective Date |
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Effective date of a hospital's
fair pricing policy. |
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Federal Poverty Level (FPL) |
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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. |
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Federal
Poverty Level for Free Care |
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The FPL used by a hospital to
determine if a patient is eligible for free care (charity care). See Charity Care. |
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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. |
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FPL Chart |
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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). |
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Free Care |
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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. |
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Hospital Name |
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The name under which the
facility is doing business. This name
may be an abbreviation and/or differ from the facility's legal name. |
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Hospital Type |
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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. |
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Income
Type Used |
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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. |
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Interest
Received |
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Indicates interest income
received used to determine eligibility. |
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Languages |
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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. |
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Languages
- Armenian |
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Indicates Fair Pricing Policy
available in Armenian. |
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Languages
- Cambodian |
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Indicates Fair Pricing Policy
available in Cambodian. |
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Languages
- Chinese |
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Indicates Fair Pricing Policy
available in Chinese. |
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Languages
- English |
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Indicates Fair Pricing Policy
available in English. |
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Languages
- Hmong |
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Indicates Fair Pricing Policy
available in Hmong. |
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Languages
- Korean |
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Indicates Fair Pricing Policy
available in Korean. |
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Languages
- Russian |
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Indicates Fair Pricing Policy
available in Russian. |
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Languages
- Spanish |
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Indicates Fair Pricing Policy
available in Spanish. |
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Languages
- Tagalog |
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Indicates Fair Pricing Policy
available in Tagalog. |
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Languages
- Vietnamese |
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Indicates Fair Pricing Policy
available in Vietnamese. |
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License |
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See Hospital Type. |
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Payment
Basis |
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The basis of payment for a
hospital that uses a discount payment policy. |
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Pension
Received |
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Indicates pension income
received used to determine eligibility. |
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Salary
Received |
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Indicates salaries and wages
received used to determine eligibility. |
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Total
Beds |
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The number of licensed beds
(excluding nursery bassinets) stated on the hospital license. |
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