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Army Veteran Owned | Expert Surety Bonds Since 2004
Have a question? +1 815-826-6324 (815-8-BondAI) phil@AmericasSuretyBonds.com
Army Veteran Owned | Expert Surety Bonds Since 2004
If you operate a Florida nursing home under a lease, AHCA will not license the facility without proof of this bond or an approved alternative. The amount moves with your Medicaid revenue, so we work from your own payment history to write a bond that meets the statutory minimum and the 30 month term.
Florida Statute 400.179(2)(d) requires a nursing home licensee that operates a leased facility to acquire, maintain and give the Agency for Health Care Administration proof of a bond with a term of 30 months, renewable annually. The amount is not a flat figure. It must be at least the total of 3 months' Medicaid payments to the facility, computed on the preceding 12-month average. Instead of the bond, a licensee may pay a nonrefundable annual fee equal to 1 percent of that same 3 month total, or meet the requirement through other arrangements acceptable to the agency.
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The most common mistake with this bond is expecting a fixed amount. Section 400.179(2)(d)1 sets the bond at not less than the total of 3 months' Medicaid payments to the facility, computed on the basis of the preceding 12-month average. A facility with heavy Medicaid volume needs a much larger bond than one with few Medicaid residents.
The requirement applies where a transfer of ownership involves a facility that has been leased by the transferor. The transferee must acquire, maintain and provide proof of the bond to the agency as a condition of being licensed. Leasehold licensees have also had to provide the bond on and after July 1, 1993, for each license renewal. The bond has a term of 30 months and must be renewed annually, with proof furnished to AHCA each time.
One exclusion matters for financed projects. A lease required as a condition of bond financing or refinancing by a health facilities authority under s. 154.213, or required by a county or municipality under s. 159.30, is not a leasehold for purposes of this requirement.
A leasehold licensee may instead pay a nonrefundable fee of 1 percent of the total of 3 months' Medicaid payments, computed on the preceding 12-month average. If a 12-month average is not available, projected Medicaid payments may be used. The fee is paid at initial licensure, at any later change of ownership, and annually after that. It goes into the Grants and Donations Trust Fund and is accounted for separately as a Medicaid nursing home overpayment account. If net cumulative collections in that account exceed $10 million, the fee option does not apply for the following fiscal year. Paying the fee does not release the licensee from liability for any Medicaid overpayments.
Failing to acquire, maintain, renew annually or provide proof of the bond is grounds for AHCA to deny, revoke and suspend the facility license, and the agency can take further enforcement steps, including receivership.
Gather the facility's Medicaid payment history for the prior 12 months so the amount can be computed correctly, and confirm with AHCA's Long Term Care Services Unit the current bond form and how proof should be submitted.
At least the total of 3 months' Medicaid payments to the facility, computed on the preceding 12-month average. There is no single statewide amount. Each facility's bond depends on its own Medicaid payments.
Yes, while the option is open. The fee is 1 percent of the same 3 month Medicaid total, it is nonrefundable, and it is paid at initial licensure, at any change of ownership and every year after that. If the overpayment account's net cumulative collections exceed $10 million, the fee option is unavailable for the next fiscal year.
No. Section 400.179 states that paying the fee does not release the licensee from any liability for Medicaid overpayments.
The bond has a 30 month term and must be renewed annually, with proof furnished to AHCA each year.
A lease required as a condition of bond financing or refinancing under s. 154.213 by a health facilities authority, or under s. 159.30 by a county or municipality, is not treated as a leasehold for this requirement. Confirm your facility's status with AHCA.
Failure to maintain, renew or prove the bond is grounds for AHCA to deny, revoke and suspend the license, and the agency may pursue receivership.
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