Sacred Heart Hospital on the Emerald Coast — financial assistance and billing help
7800 US Hwy 98 W, Miramar Beach, FL 32550 · Walton County
Sacred Heart Hospital on the Emerald Coast is a nonprofit hospital. Under Section 501(r) of the Internal Revenue Code, that means it is federally required to maintain a written financial assistance policy, to publicize it, to charge patients who qualify no more than the amounts it generally bills insured patients, and to hold off on collections for at least 120 days after your first bill. You have to ask — but it is not a favour, it is an obligation.
The federal record for this hospital
Every field below comes from the federal hospital registry — useful both for checking you have the right facility and for addressing a letter correctly.
| Legal name on file | Sacred Heart Hospital on the Emerald Coast |
|---|---|
| Address | 7800 US Hwy 98 W, Miramar Beach, FL 32550 |
| Telephone | (850) 278-3600 |
| Facility type | Acute Care Hospitals |
| Ownership | Voluntary non-profit - Other |
| Emergency department | Yes — EMTALA emergency screening and stabilisation rules apply |
| CMS overall rating | 3 out of 5 stars |
| Medicare CCN | 100292 |
Source: CMS Hospital General Information (Provider Data Catalog, dataset xubh-q36u), published 2026-05-13. If a detail here is out of date, the hospital's own billing office is authoritative — and we would like to know: support@billstand.com.
What this hospital is required to do
- Have a written financial assistance policy. Section 501(r)(4) requires a written policy covering all emergency and medically necessary care, stating who is eligible, how assistance is calculated, and how to apply.
- Publish it where you can actually find it. The policy, the application form and a plain-language summary must be free to download from the hospital website with no account and no personal information required, free on paper by mail or in person, and offered at admission or discharge. Your billing statement must carry a visible notice that assistance exists, with a phone number.
- Cap what it charges you if you qualify. Section 501(r)(5) forbids charging a patient who qualifies more than the "amounts generally billed" to insured patients. In practice that is a fraction of the sticker price you were sent.
- Wait before it can come after you. Section 501(r)(6) requires at least 120 days from your first post-discharge bill before any extraordinary collection action — selling the debt, reporting it to credit bureaus, or suing. You have at least 240 days from that first bill to submit an application.
Where your leverage is. Ask in writing for the financial assistance policy, the application form and the plain-language summary, and ask which "amounts generally billed" percentage the hospital uses. A nonprofit hospital that cannot produce those documents on request has a compliance problem, and its billing office knows it.
What Sacred Heart Hospital on the Emerald Coast bills, and what it is actually paid
These are federal figures for this specific hospital: the average amount it submitted to Medicare for a stay, next to the average amount it was actually paid. The gap is not a scandal — no hospital collects its list price from anyone — but it is the reason a sticker-price bill is a starting point rather than a final number.
For its most common inpatient stay, Sacred Heart Hospital on the Emerald Coast billed about $39,043 and was paid about $10,256 — roughly 3.8 times less than the amount on the bill.
| Type of stay | Average billed | Average paid | Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Simple pneumonia and pleurisy with MCCMS-DRG 193 · 104 Medicare stays | $39,043 | $10,256 | 3.8× |
| Heart failure and shock with MCCMS-DRG 291 · 85 Medicare stays | $37,631 | $9,632 | 3.9× |
| Septicemia or severe sepsis without MV >96 hours with MCCMS-DRG 871 · 77 Medicare stays | $61,080 | $14,237 | 4.3× |
| Respiratory infections and inflammations with MCCMS-DRG 177 · 64 Medicare stays | $48,927 | $12,374 | 4× |
| Kidney and urinary tract infections with MCCMS-DRG 689 · 36 Medicare stays | $36,370 | $8,772 | 4.1× |
| Esophagitis, gastroenteritis and miscellaneous digestive disorders without MCCMS-DRG 392 · 33 Medicare stays | $35,815 | $6,689 | 5.4× |
| Miscellaneous disorders of nutrition, metabolism, fluids and electrolytes without MCCMS-DRG 641 · 33 Medicare stays | $26,908 | $6,584 | 4.1× |
Source: CMS Medicare Inpatient Hospitals — by Provider and Service, 2024 data, published 2026-04-23. These figures cover Medicare patients at this hospital and are not a quote for your care — use them as a documented benchmark, not a prediction.
How to ask Sacred Heart Hospital on the Emerald Coast for help — in writing
- Ask for the documents by name. Request the financial assistance policy, the application form, the plain-language summary, and the "amounts generally billed" percentage the hospital uses. Naming the documents matters — a general request for "help with my bill" gets a payment plan offer instead.
- Ask for a fully itemized statement with every charge and its procedure code, for the dates of service on your bill.
- Ask for the account to be held. Request in writing that no late fees, interest, credit reporting or collections referral occur while your application or dispute is pending.
- Send it certified with return receipt — roughly $9 at USPS. Proof of delivery is what makes a deadline enforceable later.
- Give a deadline and follow up. Ask for a written response within 30 days, and if none arrives, send a shorter second notice referencing the first by date.
Do not agree to a payment plan on the phone before the amount itself is resolved. A plan converts a disputed bill into an admitted debt you have started paying.
Questions about Sacred Heart Hospital on the Emerald Coast bills
Does Sacred Heart Hospital on the Emerald Coast offer financial assistance?
Yes. As a nonprofit hospital, Sacred Heart Hospital on the Emerald Coast is required under Section 501(r) of the Internal Revenue Code to maintain a written financial assistance policy and to make it freely available. Request the policy, the application form and the plain-language summary in writing, and ask which "amounts generally billed" percentage it uses.
How do I get an itemized bill from Sacred Heart Hospital on the Emerald Coast?
Request it in writing from the billing office, referencing your account number and dates of service, and ask for every charge with its procedure code. The first statement you receive is usually a summary, and you cannot dispute charges you cannot see. The number in the federal registry for this hospital is (850) 278-3600, but put the request in writing so there is a record of it.
How long do I have before Sacred Heart Hospital on the Emerald Coast can send my bill to collections?
As a nonprofit hospital, it must wait at least 120 days from your first post-discharge billing statement before taking extraordinary collection action such as reporting the debt, selling it or suing, and it must accept a financial assistance application for at least 240 days from that first statement.
Is the bill from Sacred Heart Hospital on the Emerald Coast negotiable?
Hospital charges are not fixed prices — insurers pay a fraction of the listed amount every day. Federal data shows this hospital was paid roughly 3.8 times less than it billed for its most common inpatient stay. A specific, written request — a self-pay discount, a financial assistance review, or a dispute of incorrect charges — is what a billing department can act on.