At TGH North, our goal is to provide patients with high quality care and the best possible hospital experience, from registration through discharge. We know that understanding billing, insurance, and medical records may seem overwhelming at times. To make this process more transparent and help patients understand their personal out-of-pocket responsibility, our hospitals provide the following information:
Typical Charge
Hospital charges typically do not include physician services or the necessary services of other providers, such as personnel retained by the physician, or the services of outside facilities. Patients will be responsible for these other charges in addition to the hospital charges. Hospital charges are based on what type of care is actually provided and can differ from patient to patient for the same service. The differences between patients are related to complications or varying treatments needed due to the patient's health.
Patient's Responsibility
A patient's responsibility may vary, depending on payment plans negotiated with individual health insurers, or the terms of coverage under a governmental or other health care payment program. Many patients who seek hospital charge information are interested in knowing their potential out-of-pocket financial responsibility. This is an opportunity to have important conversations regarding finances. Those with health insurance can be directed to contact their health plan for specific financial obligations. Those without health insurance will be provided information related to the hospital's financial assistance policy, and any prompt pay or other discounts that could be applied.
Price Transparency
Federal regulations require all hospitals to post detailed information about the charges for various services and supplies that could be billed to a patient’s account along with the payer specific negotiated rates for these items/services. These payer-negotiated rates do not take into account specific elements of your plan and personal health care consumption – you will likely pay only a portion of these rates via deductibles, co-payments, or co-insurance. Patients without insurance are often eligible for charity care, payment plans, or cash discounts and adjusted for household income and family size. These documents are not a guarantee of what you will be charged. Your actual charges may differ from the estimated charges for many reasons, including the seriousness of your medical condition, actual time the procedure takes place, as well as the services and supplies that you receive.
Note that Tampa General Hospital shall not be liable for any difference between charges listed in the price lists and the final bill for services.
State of Florida Health Care Pricing Website
The Florida Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) focuses on providing Floridians with access to affordable, quality health care. AHCA maintains a pricing website that provides information on payments made to hospitals for defined service bundles and procedures.
The ACHA pricing website is located at: http://pricing.floridahealthfinder.gov.
The information found on the AHCA pricing website is non-personalized, which means it is not a specific, personalized estimate of costs that may be incurred by a patient for anticipated services. Actual costs incurred by a patient will be based on services actually provided to a patient.
Personalized Estimate of Costs
All hospital patients, potential patients, or legal guardians of patients have the right to request a personalized estimate of costs for nonemergency medical services. Our financial counselors welcome questions and are available to provide assistance. To obtain a personalized estimate, please contact the Patient Financial Services department at the hospital, Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Payment, Billing, and Assistance Policies
The hospital has established payment and billing policies regarding financial assistance, charity care, billing, and collections. These payment policies can be found by clicking on the “Payment, Billing, and Assistance Policies” link under the “Patients & Visitors” tab on the hospital’s website.
Information on Health Insurers, Health Maintenance Organizations, and Health Care Providers
The “Payment, Billing, and Assistance Policies” link under the “Patients & Visitors” tab on the hospital’s website also provides patients with
- A list of names and web addresses of health insurers and health maintenance organizations (HMO) with which the hospital is contracted as a network provider or participant, and
- A searchable list of names and contract information of health care providers (including doctors) and medical practice groups with which the hospital has contracted to provide services; this list can be searched by specialty or by name.
All patients should contact the health care providers that may provide services while the patient is in the hospital regarding a personalized cost estimate, billing practices, and participation with a patient’s health insurer or HMO.
Health care providers listed on the “Payment, Billing, and Assistance Policies” link may not participate with the same health insurers or HMO as the hospital.