Notice to Patients Regarding Amounts Generally Billed
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act : Internal Revenue Code section 501R Statement of Compliance with AGB (Amounts Generally Billed) Requirements
IRC Section 501(r)(5) requires that hospitals limit charges for emergency and other medically necessary care provided to individuals eligible for financial assistance to be no more than amounts generally billed (AGB) to insured individuals.
Our facility uses the “look back” method to calculate AGB. Under this method, we reviewed all paid insurance, Medicare fee for service and Medicaid claims for a 12 month period ending 11/30/2023. The "look back" review determined the average discount totaled per hospital charges as follows:
| Facility | Average Discount of Hospital Charges |
|---|---|
| Methodist Hospital | 85.97% |
| Methodist Children's Hospital | 85.97% |
| Methodist Heart and Lung Institute | 85.97% |
| Methodist Hospital Metropolitan | 85.97% |
| Methodist Hospital Landmark | 85.97% |
| Methodist Hospital Northeast | 85.97% |
| Methodist Hospital Atascosa | 87.07% |
| Methodist Hospital Hill Country | 67.37% |
| Methodist Hospital Specialty and Transplant | 85.97% |
| Methodist Hospital Stone Oak | 85.21% |
| Methodist Hospital Texsan | 85.97% |
The uninsured discount rate of 92.65% is applied to all uninsured patient accounts. The minimum amount that we charge uninsured patients is lower than the amount generally billed (AGB) to insurance. Additional discounts for patients who receive financial assistance under our policy would be greater than or equal to the uninsured rate. We test this threshold annually to ensure ongoing compliance with this requirement.
Effective date: 11/30/2023