GOOD FAITH ESTIMATES

SUNCOAST COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTERS (SCHC), INC.,

STATUS OF GOOD FAITH ESTIMATE PROCESS

CURRENT AS OF 04/24/2023

On September 30, 2021, The United States Department of Health and Human Services released its second Interim Final Rule (IFR) to protect consumers from surprise medical bills, implementing the “No Surprises Act”.   

The IFR establishes a requirement for health care providers to provide uninsured and self-pay patients with a Good Faith Estimate (GFE) of their total out-of-pocket cost for services upon request or after they schedule an appointment.

At this time, when scheduling an appointment via the telephone we can only provide a generalized GFE.  This is because all relevant factors cannot be verified via telephone.   

Suncoast Community Health Centers, Inc. is working diligently to establish electronic procedures that are transparent, seamless, and user-friendly.  Until our electronic and automated procedures are ready for individual eligible patients, we will be providing general information on this page.

In general, uninsured and self-pay patients are charged on a “Fee Scale” basis and are informed of their expected charges prior to their visit.  The scale ranges from A= Full discount (nominal fee only), B= 25% discount, C= 50% discount, D= 75% discount and E= Full fee, no discount of prevailing charges.    

Other factors that may affect your GFE include but are not limited to: Income compared against the current Federal Poverty Guidelines; family size; type of visit (medical, dental, optometry, lab, pharmacy, etc.); medications and/or immunizations and level (complexity of care).

At any time should you have questions about your Good Faith Estimate or charges in general please ask to speak with your Clinic Administrator or Assistant Clinic Administrator.

This page will be updated frequently as new information becomes available.