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Jacksonville Hospital Bills: UF Health's Duval Sliding Scale, Baptist Charity Care and Florida's Collection Rules

Writer: FSR Editorial Team
FSR Editorial Team
7 days ago
8 min read

In Jacksonville, the cheapest hospital bill is often decided by your ZIP code and your paperwork, more than by the care you got. UF Health Jacksonville runs a city-funded sliding scale for Duval County residents. Baptist Health has its own charity care rules. Florida law now limits what either one can do to collect. This guide starts with the income chart, because that's the first thing a financial counselor will check.

AT A GLANCE

  • UF Health Jacksonville: if your family's adjusted income is under 200% of the federal poverty guidelines, you may get a discount of up to 100%. Duval County residents are placed on a weekly income chart, effective March 1, 2026 through February 28, 2027.

  • Uninsured and over the limit at UF Health? The hospital lists a 45% self-pay discount off gross charges.

  • Baptist Health: full assistance at or below 200% FPL and partial help from 200% to 400% FPL. A catastrophic option exists above 400% when the bill is more than twice your family's yearly income.

  • Florida law: hospitals can't sue, garnish, put a lien on your home or report you to credit bureaus while your financial assistance application is pending. A hospital collection lawsuit generally has to be filed within three years of the debt being sent to collections.

  • Phones: UF Health financial counselors (904) 244-4015. Baptist patient financial advocates (904) 202-2092, option 3.



First, find your line on the UF Health chart

UF Health Jacksonville is one of Florida's statutory teaching hospitals, and it describes itself as a safety-net hospital for people with little or no insurance. The City of Jacksonville helps pay for that role. Its proposed 2025/26 budget lists a $56 million annual payment to Shands Jacksonville Medical Center (UF Health Jacksonville's legal name) for indigent health care.

That money supports the sliding scale. For Duval County patients, UF Health uses a weekly income chart called Appendix D. Find your family size, then the column your weekly household income falls into. The figures below are copied from the 2026 chart.

Family size

Full charity (pay $0)

Part pay range (PP1 to PP6)

Full pay

1

$0–$307 a week

$308–$613

$614+

2

$0–$416

$417–$831

$832+

3

$0–$525

$526–$1,049

$1,050+

4

$0–$635

$636–$1,269

$1,270+

5

$0–$744

$745–$1,487

$1,488+

6

$0–$853

$854–$1,705

$1,706+

The full chart goes up to a family of 15 and breaks the part-pay range into six steps. It's on UF Health Jacksonville's financial assistance page as an Excel file.

What each step means for your bill

The policy doesn't set your share as a percentage of the full price. It sets it as a percentage of the Amount Generally Billed (AGB), which is roughly what Medicare would pay. UF Health Jacksonville lists its AGB as 18.40% of gross charges as of July 1, 2026.

Your rating

You pay this share of AGB

Full charity

0%

Part Pay 1

30%

Part Pay 2

44%

Part Pay 3

58%

Part Pay 4

72%

Part Pay 5

86%

Part Pay 6

100%

Here is an example. It's FSR's own arithmetic, not a quote from the hospital. On a $10,000 hospital bill, an AGB of 18.40% is $1,840. At Part Pay 1, you'd owe 30% of that, about $552. At Part Pay 6, you'd owe the full $1,840. Your real figure depends on the actual charges and on which services the policy covers.

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How to apply at UF Health Jacksonville

  1. Apply for other coverage first, or at least at the same time. The policy requires you to cooperate with applications for Medicare, Medicaid, Affordable Care Act coverage, disability and county programs. If you refuse to apply for coverage you're eligible for, financial assistance won't be granted.

  2. Get the application. Download it from the hospital's financial assistance page (English, Spanish and Chinese versions). You can also call (904) 244-4015, email enroll@jax.ufl.edu, or pick one up at the admissions desks at UF Health Jacksonville (655 West 8th Street) or UF Health North (15255 Max Leggett Parkway).

  3. Plan to apply in person if you live in Duval County. The policy says Duval residents may be required to apply in person, or through someone they've given power of attorney. Appointments are with the Financial Evaluation Department.

  4. Bring two proofs of residence from different sources. The first must be a Florida driver license. A Florida ID card can stand in if you show you aren't eligible for a license. The second can be a voter card, pay stub, electric bill, lease, mortgage statement, vehicle registration or notarized statement of support. It must show your home address.

  5. Bring income proof. Pay stubs (the last 90 days or 12 months), your latest tax return, benefit letters, and three or 12 months of bank statements. If someone else supports you, the hospital has a notarized "food, shelter and/or monetary verification" form.

  6. Watch for the decision. UF Health aims to decide within 7 days of a complete application and to tell you within 14 days if something is missing. Collections are suspended while it reviews.

  7. Appeal in writing within 30 days if you disagree. Send it to the Patient Access Director, 655 West 8th Street, Jacksonville, FL 32209, with new income proof or an explanation of catastrophic circumstances.

"Patients/Guarantors shall not be denied for failure to provide information not requested on the application and/or this policy." (UF Health Jacksonville Financial Assistance Program policy)

When UF Health described the program to a City Council working group in October 2022, it said the city contract requires the application to be renewed every six months. Put a reminder on your calendar. Also, call before you drop off documents. The hospital's web page gives 1833 Boulevard for returned applications, while the policy lists the Financial Evaluation Department at 2000 Boulevard.

Rules that trip people up

  • Who counts as family. You, your spouse, and your birth or adopted children who live with you. Children count only through age 17, and an unborn child counts too.

  • Immigration status. The policy limits assistance for non-citizens to green card holders (the card can't be expired), people who've applied for citizenship, and refugees or asylum seekers.

  • Separate doctor bills. The policy covers the hospital's own bill. Physicians who aren't UF Health Jacksonville employees bill on their own. The hospital posts a list of them.

  • Services that never qualify. These include cosmetic surgery, infertility treatment, elective abortion, sterilization reversal and most dental care.

  • Presumptive eligibility. If you can't finish the paperwork, the hospital may still approve you. It looks at things like SNAP eligibility, WIC participation, homelessness, subsidized housing, or exhausted Medicaid benefits.

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If Baptist Health billed you

Baptist Health runs Baptist Medical Center Jacksonville, Baptist South, Baptist Beaches, Baptist Nassau, Wolfson Children's Hospital and several emergency centers. Its financial assistance policy took effect October 1, 2026. Baptist doesn't limit it to Duval residents, and it's built around annual income instead of a weekly chart.

Category

Who qualifies

What happens to the bill

Full assistance

Family income at or below 200% FPL

Your whole patient balance is covered

Partial assistance

Above 200% and below 400% FPL

Balance reduced by the AGB%. Savings, investments and non-homestead property over $75,000 count against you

Catastrophic

Above 400% FPL, and the bill is more than twice your family's yearly income

One episode of care reduced by the AGB%

Self-pay discount

Uninsured patients

A discount equal to the inverse of the AGB%. Baptist's example is 80%

Baptist's AGB rates for the 2026-27 fiscal year range from 20% (Baptist Beaches) to 38% (Wolfson Children's). The policy says all of its hospitals apply the lowest rate.

To use the 400% line, compare your annual income with these figures. They're FSR's math from the 2026 HHS poverty guidelines, and Baptist's own chart is Attachment C of its policy.

Household size

200% FPL

400% FPL

1

$31,920

$63,840

2

$43,280

$86,560

3

$54,640

$109,280

4

$66,000

$132,000

5

$77,360

$154,720

6

$88,720

$177,440

How to apply to Baptist:

  1. Call (904) 202-2092, option 3 to set up a financial evaluation. For help in another language, call (904) 202-2435.

  2. Send the application and proof by email to pfsfaappt@bmcjax.com, through my.baptistchart.com, or by mail to Baptist Health Jacksonville, P.O. Box 736048, Dallas, TX 75373-6048. You can also bring it in person to San Marco East Plaza, 3563 Philips Hwy, Bldg. B, Ste. 201.

  3. One application can cover bills from up to 240 days before and 12 months after the date you apply.

  4. If you're denied, ask for reconsideration within 30 days. Baptist reviews math errors and mistakes, but it won't reconsider the income and asset levels themselves.

On collections, Baptist's policy describes four statements and two phone calls over 120 days. After that comes a primary collection agency for 150 days. The policy says accounts at that stage aren't reported to credit bureaus. Only a secondary agency, after that, may report.

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What Florida law adds

Since 2024, Florida has had its own rules on hospital collections, on top of the federal charity care rules.

  • No "extraordinary collection actions" too early. Under Fla. Stat. 395.3011, a hospital can't sell your debt, report you to credit bureaus, sue, garnish wages, put a lien on your property or freeze your bank account in these situations: before it has made reasonable efforts to check your eligibility for assistance (and decided any application), before it has given you an itemized bill, during a billing grievance, before it has billed your insurer, or within 30 days of a written collection notice. It also can't do so while you're negotiating the bill in good faith or keeping up with a payment plan.

  • Itemized bills on request. Under Fla. Stat. 395.301, the hospital must send an itemized bill within 7 days of discharge or of your request. It must answer billing questions within 7 business days and give a first response to a formal grievance within 7 business days.

  • A three-year clock. Under Fla. Stat. 95.11, a lawsuit to collect a hospital's medical debt must be filed within three years. The clock starts when the hospital refers the debt to a third party for collection.



Keep the next bill smaller

Uninsured Duval County residents can call Healthlink JAX at 904-925-CARE (2273). It's the city's free, 24/7 virtual care line, with care navigators who can connect you to follow-up care at a Duval safety-net clinic. The city lists partners such as Volunteers in Medicine, a free clinic for working uninsured adults, and WeCareJax, which arranges specialty care for uninsured Duval adults at or below 200% FPL who are referred by a primary care provider.



Before you call

  • ☐ Every hospital bill and any separate physician bills

  • ☐ Your Florida driver license (or ID plus proof you can't get a license)

  • ☐ A second proof of address, such as a lease, JEA bill or voter card

  • ☐ Pay stubs, your latest tax return and benefit award letters

  • ☐ Bank statements, three months or 12, depending on what's asked

  • ☐ Any Medicaid or Marketplace application or denial letters

  • ☐ A notarized support statement if someone else pays your bills

  • ☐ A call log with dates, names and what each person told you

WHAT TO DO THIS WEEK

  • Find your row on the weekly chart above. If you're a Duval resident under the full-pay column, call UF Health at (904) 244-4015 and book an in-person appointment.

  • Baptist patient? Call (904) 202-2092, option 3, and ask whether your income falls under 200% or 400% FPL.

  • Ask for an itemized bill in writing. Florida law gives the hospital 7 days to send it.

  • Got a collection notice? Send in your financial assistance application right away and keep proof of the date you sent it.

  • No regular doctor? Save 904-925-2273 in your phone.



More help in Jacksonville

Related guides

Official sources

Last checked: October 23, 2026. UF Health terms come from its Financial Assistance Program policy, Billing and Collection Policy, and the 2026 Appendix D weekly income schedule. Baptist terms come from its Hospital Financial Assistance Policy effective October 1, 2026. City funding comes from the Council Auditor's FY 2025/26 proposed budget handout, and the six-month renewal from October 13, 2022 City Council working group minutes. The 200% and 400% figures and the $10,000 example are FSR calculations.

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