Florida SB 1808: Are You Compliant with the New 30-Day Patient Refund Law? | Healthcare Compliance Attorneys

The 30-Day Clock Has Started: Are You Complying with Florida’s New Patient Refund Law (SB 1808)?

For Florida healthcare providers, the regulatory landscape shifted as soon as the calendar turned to 2026. With the enactment of Senate Bill 1808 (i.e., CS/CS/SB 1808), titled “Refund of Overpayments Made by Patients,” a strict statutory clock is now ticking on patient credit balances.

This law is no longer a future proposal; it is active state law. At Johnson Pope, we are already helping facilities and practitioners adjust their revenue cycle management to meet these new demands. If you are holding patient overpayments, you must act quickly to avoid administrative fines and potential disciplinary action against your license.

If you need assistance understanding or complying with SB 1808, we invite you to contact our offices in Clearwater, St. Petersburg or Tampa to schedule a consultation with an experienced health care billing attorney to learn more about your legal obligations and rights.

Is The New Florida Patient Refund Law Already In Effect?

Yes. The provisions of Senate Bill 1808 officially took effect on January 1, 2026.[1]

This means the requirements are currently enforceable. If your practice or facility has determined that a patient made an overpayment, the statutory window to issue a refund is already open. You cannot afford to delay reviewing your accounts receivable and credit balances.

Don’t let the new year bring new penalties. Contact Johnson Pope’s healthcare compliance attorneys today to ensure your billing practices are fully compliant.

How Fast Must We Refund A Patient Under SB 1808?

The statute is explicit: a licensee must refund the amount of any overpayment to the patient no later than 30 days after the date the licensee determines that the overpayment was made.

This “30-day clock” mandates swift action once an overpayment is identified. The law is designed to prevent providers from holding patient funds indefinitely, and it places an affirmative duty on your billing operations to process these refunds promptly.

What Constitutes The “Determination” Of An Overpayment?

While the 30-day timeline is clear, the starting line (i.e., the “determination” date) is a critical compliance nuance. The statute does not explicitly define what constitutes a determination, but it generally occurs when a discrepancy is flagged during account reconciliation or compliance reviews.

However, providers should not assume they can delay the clock by ignoring credit balances. System-generated alerts, automated notices in a patient’s financial record, or payment posting dates can serve as evidence of when a determination should have been made. At Johnson Pope, we advise clients to establish rigid protocols for reviewing financial records; delays caused by internal processing lags or software glitches will likely not be accepted as valid defenses against the 30-day mandate.

Who Is Legally Responsible For Issuing These Refunds?

SB 1808 applies to a broad spectrum of the healthcare industry, including:

• Health Care Facilities: Entities licensed by the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA).
• Health Care Practitioners: Individual providers licensed by the Department of Health (such as physicians, nurses, and chiropractors).

Crucially, the law extends liability beyond just the practitioner. The refund mandate explicitly applies to any billing department, management company, or group practice that accepts payment for services rendered by the health care practitioner.

How Does This New Health Care Refund Law Affect Contracts With Third-Party Billing Vendors?

Many providers assume their billing vendors shield them from liability, but SB 1808 suggests otherwise. While the law applies to billing management companies, the disciplinary action ultimately targets the practitioner’s license. If your third-party vendor has internal processing issues, software errors, or posting delays that cause a missed deadline, the medical professionals are the one facing potential Board of Medicine discipline.

This makes your vendor agreements a priority for legal review. We recommend auditing your current contracts to ensure they include:

• Strict, measurable Service Level Standards (SLAs) regarding credit balance processing.
• Indemnification clauses protecting the practice from fines caused by vendor negligence.
• Provisions allowing for termination for cause if the vendor fails to meet these new statutory refund timelines.

Are your vendor contracts protecting you? As health care compliance lawyers with decades of cumulative experience, we can review your agreements to ensure they align with these 2026 requirements.

Does SB 1808 Apply To All Patient Payments?

The refund requirement is triggered when a licensee “tenders charges for reimbursement”. The statute defines this specific term to mean filing a claim for reimbursement with:

• A government-sponsored program (e.g., Medicare or Medicaid); or
• A private health insurer or health maintenance organization.

Essentially, if you bill insurance or a government payer and the patient pays a portion (such as a co-pay or deductible) that results in an overpayment upon adjudication, this law applies.

Need help analyzing your credit balances? Our experienced health care billing lawyers can help you determine which overpayments fall under this statute.

Does SB 1808 Apply To Self-Pay Or Cosmetic Procedures?

No. The statutory language creates a specific carve-out for direct-pay scenarios. Because the law defines the trigger as “tendering charges for reimbursement,” it only applies when a provider files a claim with a government-sponsored program (like Medicare) or a private health insurer.

Consequently, if your practice collects payments for services that are not billed to any insurer, such as elective cosmetic procedures, concierge membership fees, or pure self-pay visits, those specific transactions fall outside the scope of SB 1808. However, general contract laws regarding refunds still apply, so retention of unearned fees remains a liability risk.

Are There Any Exceptions To The 30-Day Rule?

Yes. The legislature clarified that this section does not apply to overpayments that are subject to s. 627.6131 or s. 641.3155.

These existing statutes generally govern overpayments made to providers by health insurers and HMOs. SB 1808 is specifically targeted at protecting patients, deferring to existing laws for provider-insurer overpayment disputes.

What Are The Penalties For Failing To Refund A Patient Now?

Since the law is effective, the penalties are now enforceable. Violating the 30-day refund mandate carries distinct consequences depending on your license type:

• For Health Care Facilities: A violation is subject to an administrative fine imposed by AHCA. The agency may impose a fine of up to $500 for each violation. Because each unrefunded overpayment can be considered a separate violation, these fines can accumulate rapidly.
• For Health Care Practitioners: The law adds failure to refund overpayments to the list of acts that constitute grounds for disciplinary action against your license under s. 456.072, Florida Statutes. This can lead to investigations by the Department of Health or a professional board.

How Can Johnson Pope Help Protect Your Practice?

The implementation of SB 1808 signifies a new era of enforcement regarding patient financials. With the law now active, administrative errors in your billing department can lead directly to professional disciplinary liability.

Johnson Pope’s Health Care Law Team is ready to assist you in auditing your current credit balances, restructuring your agreements with billing management companies, and defending against any administrative complaints.

Call our offices in Tampa, St. Petersburg, or Clearwater to schedule a consultation with an experienced health care billion attorney to learn more about how you can proactively address your legal obligations under this new law.

[1] Refund of Overpayments Made by Patients, S. 1808,  https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2025/1808/BillText/er/PDF (2025).