This resolution provides for the adoption of a non-ad valorem assessment within the city limits to support the past and current provision of charity health care in the City of Orlando.  Hospitals within the city limits provide millions of dollars of uncompensated charity care to indigent citizens of Orlando.  In order to assist providers with recoupment and further development of indigent care services, the State of Florida created a “Low-Income Pool” program through its federal Medicaid waiver to allow providers access to funds to help support the costs of charity care.

The Low-Income Pool is designed to match federal payments with non-federal shares, which are generated through IGTs, or intergovernmental transfers.  Cities, municipalities and other governmental entities can raise, through assessments or other means, funds to transfer to the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration to generate IGTs, and thus increase the amount of money that can be released from the Low-Income Pool.  This assessment on certain property within the city limits will be used to generate those IGTs, and as the assessment is based on the gross out-patient revenues of the hospitals within the city limits, the same entities that are providing the uncompensated charity care will also provide the funds to support the IGTs in order to increase the potential draw-down from the Low-Income Pool.

The Hospitals that are affected by this Assessment fully support the assessment.  The Hospitals plan to remit the Assessment contemporaneous with the adoption of the Final Assessment Resolution on June 11, 2018, so that the City can transfer the amount to the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration to satisfy the IGT requirement, which will permit providers access to a larger share of the Low-Income Pool.  The City will not retain the Assessments for any significant period of time, but the properties that are being assessed will receive a direct and special benefit based on the greater access to the Low-Income Pool.