Health Care Responsibility Act (HCRA)

In 1977, the Legislature declared that it is inequitable for hospitals and taxpayers of one county to be expected to subsidize the care of out-of-county indigent persons. In order to assure that adequate and affordable health care is available to all Floridians, the Health Care Responsibility Act (HCRA) was enacted. The Act places the ultimate financial obligation for an indigent patient’s out-of-county emergency care on the county in which the indigent patient resides. The Health Care responsibility act can be found in Chapter 154, Sections .301 - .331, Florida Statutes, and Rule Chapter 59H-1.001-.015, Florida Administrative Code.

In 1998, the Legislature revised the Act to allow counties to use up to ½ of the HCRA funds to reimburse eligible in-county hospitals for indigent care.  Currently there are nine (9) counties that elected to reimburse their in county hospital(s) for resident indigents under the HCRA.  These counties are: Bradford, Calhoun, Hamilton, Holmes, Levy, Madison, Suwannee, Taylor, and Volusia.

In 2001, the Legislature revised the Act to allow a county with a population of 100,000 or less to reduce the maximum amount that it may be required to pay. The Agency must reduce the official state population estimates by the number of inmates and patients residing in the county in institutions operated by the federal government, the Department of Corrections, the Department of Health, or the Department of Children and Family Services, and by the number of active-duty military personnel residing in the county. A county is entitled to receive the benefit of the reduction only if the county accepts and does not require any re-verification of the documentation of financial eligibiltiy and county residency provided to it by the participating hospital. The submitted documentation must be complete and in accordance with the requirements of Section 154.3105, F.S.  Currently there are nine (9) counties that have elected to participate in the reduction. These counties are: Bradford, Gulf, Hardee, Holmes, Jefferson, Madison, Nassau, Union, and Wakulla.

Non-Emergency and Elective services require prior approval or prior authorization when one of two conditions are present. 1) The services are available within the county of residence and funding for the services is available, OR 2) the county of residence has written procedures on file with the Agency for prior approval or prior authorization for non-emergency and elective procedures. The following counties have such written procedures on file: Brevard, Flagler, Hernando, St. Lucie, Seminole .

The following Health Care Assistance Application form is for use by HCRA Participating Hospitals only (see list below) . The Notification of Eligibility form is for use by designated HCRA county contact personnel only. Any modifcations to either of these forms are prohibited.