Indigent "Free Care" Obligation
Pursuant to NRS 439B, hospitals with 100 or more beds, located in a county where there are at least two hospitals operating that have 100 or more beds, will be assessed an annual amount of inpatient hospital care that must be provided to patients deemed as “Indigent”. The DHCFP assesses this annual amount equal to 0.6 % of the net revenue for the hospital’s preceding fiscal year.
County Social Services Department will notify the DHCFP if the hospitals have met their annual minimum Indigent “Free Care” Obligation, and if not, how much Indigent “Free Care” each hospital actually provided. If a hospital fails to meet their Indigent Care Obligation per county records, the DHCFP will assess the hospital an Unmet Indigent Care Obligation equal to the difference between the Indigent Care Obligation established for the hospital, and the amount of Indigent Care the hospital actually provided.
The Unmet Indigent Care assessments are used as funds for payment of Indigent Claims submitted by hospitals, as well as the non federal share of the IAF Supplemental Payment designed to preserve access to inpatient hospital services for needy Nevadans. Calculation of the “Free Care” Obligation relies on net revenue data from qualifying hospitals