Florida Medicaid Provider Bond
Florida requires most Medicaid providers reimbursed on a fee-for-service basis to post a $50,000 surety bond to the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) as a condition of the provider agreement itself — not a license add-on, under F.S. §409.907(7). The number that actually determines your cost isn't $50,000. It's how many enrolled provider numbers you're bonding, because AHCA writes the bond against each Medicaid provider number or tax ID, and a multi-location home health agency stacks the requirement one enrolled address at a time, up to a $250,000 statewide cap.
- Who requires it: The Florida Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA), under F.S. §409.907(7), from most Medicaid providers reimbursed on a fee-for-service basis.
- Amount: $50,000, or the provider's total Medicaid billing if greater, with $50,000 as the cap for providers 50%+ physician-owned and for assisted living facilities. It is written for each Medicaid provider number or tax ID, up to a $250,000 statewide aggregate cap.
- Timing: Same-day submission; most quotes within one business day.
AHCA bonds the provider number, not the company
AHCA's Medicaid Provider Surety Bond form asks for a “Medicaid provider number or tax ID” in the top field — that single line is the whole story. The bond attaches to a specific enrollment record, so a home health agency, DMEPOS supplier, or transport company running multiple locations under one tax ID doesn't buy one bond and call it done. Filed under Rule 59G-1.060, F.A.C. (AHCA's provider enrollment policy), the requirement increases per enrolled service address on the same tax ID and tops out at a $250,000 aggregate once you reach five locations — a sixth, seventh, or eighth location doesn't add further bond exposure.
How the required bond stacks per enrolled location
One tax ID, multiple enrolled Medicaid provider numbers — the aggregate caps at $250,000
1 enrolled location
$50,000
The F.S. §409.907(7) statutory floor for any Medicaid fee-for-service provider.
2 enrolled locations
$100,000
One provider number/tax ID, two enrolled service addresses under it.
3 enrolled locations
$150,000
The stack keeps tracking your footprint one increment per address.
5+ enrolled locations
$250,000 cap
AHCA’s statewide aggregate ceiling per tax ID — additional locations beyond five don’t add bond.
Statutory floor: F.S. §409.907(7). Per-location stacking and the $250,000 statewide aggregate cap reflect AHCA's Medicaid Provider Surety Bond program (Form 5000-1064, Rule 59G-1.060, F.A.C.) — confirm the exact figure assigned on your enrollment notice.
This is also why the DMEPOS federal bond and the Florida Medicaid bond aren't interchangeable paperwork: DMEPOS requires a separate $50,000 bond per NPI with no statewide cap, while AHCA's state-level bond caps a multi-site Florida provider's total exposure. Our Medicaid & Medicare provider bond hub breaks down how the two federal and state layers interact if you bill both programs.
The formula behind “$50,000”
F.S. §409.907(7) doesn't set a flat $50,000 fee — it sets a floor. Your bond must equal $50,000 or your provider's total Medicaid billing to the program during the current or most recent calendar year, whichever is greater. Most small providers never see the billing side of that test. High-volume DME suppliers and home health agencies routinely do.
Required bond amount per provider number
F.S. §409.907(7). Exceptions: providers 50%+ owned by a physician licensed under ch. 458, 459, or 460, and assisted living facilities licensed under ch. 429, stay capped at $50,000 regardless of billing.
Official Florida Requirements
"Principal is indebted to the State of Florida, Agency for Health Care Administration, in the penal sum of Fifty Thousand Dollars ($50,000)... required by the Agency, pursuant to §409.907(7), Fla. Stat., to post a surety bond... to insure compliance with the attached provider agreement, pursuant to §409.907, Fla. Stat."AHCA Medicaid Provider Surety Bond form • F.S. §409.907(7)
New providers don't get to skip this test just because they have no billing history yet — AHCA sets your opening bond off your own estimate of first-year billing, then can require an additional bond if actual billing runs past what you estimated. See our guide to what surety bonds cost for how carriers price the premium on whatever penal sum you land on.
The second AHCA bond most home health agencies never hear about
Home health agencies licensed in Florida sit at the intersection of two completely separate bond regimes, and vendors that only sell the Medicaid bond routinely miss the second one.
Licensing a home health agency runs through F.S. §400.471, which requires applicants to file “evidence of contingency funding as required under s. 408.8065” — that cross-reference is where the real bond terms live. F.S. §408.8065 lets most applicants satisfy this by demonstrating financial ability to operate (assets, credit, and projected revenue covering liabilities). But if the applicant or a controlling interest is a nonimmigrant alien under 8 U.S.C. §1101, the statute instead requires a $500,000 surety bond — ten times the Medicaid provider bond — payable to AHCA, guaranteeing the agency operates in full conformity with licensure law. A nonimmigrant-alien-owned HHA that also bills Medicaid fee-for-service can owe both bonds at once, for unrelated reasons, to the same obligee.
Florida's two AHCA healthcare bonds, side by side
Medicaid enrollment bond vs. nonimmigrant-alien licensure bond — different triggers, different math
| Bond | What triggers it | Amount | Obligee / authority |
|---|---|---|---|
| Medicaid Provider Bond | Enrolling as a fee-for-service Medicaid provider | $50,000, or total annual billing if greater (capped at $50,000 for 50%+ physician-owned or ALF providers) | AHCA — F.S. §409.907(7) |
| Nonimmigrant-Alien Healthcare Bond | Home health agency, HME provider, or clinic license application/renewal with nonimmigrant-alien ownership | $500,000 minimum | AHCA — F.S. §408.8065(2), applied via §400.471(2)(d) for home health agency licensure |
These are independent requirements that can both apply to the same home health agency. Confirm which apply to your ownership structure and billing model before you bond.
Sources: Fla. Stat. §409.907(7); Fla. Stat. §408.8065(2); Fla. Stat. §400.471(2)(d) (cross-references §408.8065 for home health agency licensure).
Know your provider-number count before you call
We quote the full stack in one pass — every enrolled location, one renewal date.
Your bond and your AHCA revalidation run on two different clocks
Providers often assume a revalidation notice and a bond renewal are the same event. They aren't, and mixing them up is how a compliant provider ends up with a lapsed bond during an active enrollment period.
Revalidation: every 5 years, federal floor
42 CFR §455.414 requires AHCA to revalidate the enrollment screening of every Medicaid provider, regardless of type, at least once every five years. This is a federal minimum — AHCA sets your specific due date and notifies you directly.
Bond: continuous, renewed on its own annual cycle
AHCA's bond form is written to run continuously and remain in force for one year until it is canceled or the provider agreement expires, with the surety able to terminate on 60 days' written notice. Industry practice is to post a fresh bond annually — a cycle that has nothing to do with your five-year revalidation date.
The practical failure mode: a provider treats a five-year-away revalidation date as the trigger to think about bonding at all, then discovers their bond actually needed replacing months earlier under its own annual term. Track both dates independently — a lapsed bond with no immediate replacement is grounds for AHCA to suspend or terminate your provider agreement, and re-enrollment after a lapse interrupts revenue for far longer than the paperwork itself takes.
Which Florida Medicaid providers this actually reaches
F.S. §409.907(7) applies to Medicaid providers reimbursed on a fee-for-service or fee-schedule basis that is not cost-based. In practice, AHCA has applied the bond most consistently to:
DMEPOS and medical supply companies
Durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics, and supply providers are the group AHCA has historically enforced hardest against — high fraud exposure per enrolled location drives the per-provider-number bonding.
Home health and non-emergency transport
Multi-location agencies in this category see the per-location stacking math firsthand — and, if ownership includes a nonimmigrant alien, may separately carry the $500,000 licensure bond above.
Cost-based reimbursement providers and the two statutory carve-outs (50%+ physician ownership, licensed assisted living facilities) fall outside the billing-based increase, though the $50,000 floor itself still applies where the agency requires enrollment bonding.
What to have ready before you request a quote
Because AHCA bonds a specific enrollment record, underwriting is document-driven around your provider file, not a generic credit application:
Every enrolled Medicaid provider number or tax ID
Each one may need its own bond line — count locations before you call.
Your AHCA enrollment or revalidation notice
It states the exact bond amount and deadline the agency expects — not a generic figure.
Prior-year Medicaid billing by location
Determines whether you fall under the $50,000 floor or the billing-based increase.
Ownership disclosure, including citizenship status
Nonimmigrant-alien ownership can trigger the separate $500,000 licensure bond under §408.8065.
Physician-ownership or ALF licensure documentation
Needed to claim the statutory $50,000 cap exception.
Prior audit or overpayment findings, if any
Disclosed history affects placement and, in some cases, collateral.
Other bonds Florida healthcare providers carry
If you bill both federal and state programs, or you're licensing a new location, these come up alongside the Medicaid provider bond:
Stacking, the $500,000 bond, and revalidation timing — answered
How does AHCA’s per-location bond stacking actually work, and where does it cap out?
AHCA’s Medicaid Provider Surety Bond (Form 5000-1064, filed under Rule 59G-1.060, F.A.C.) is written against a specific Medicaid provider number or tax ID, not against your company as a whole. A single-location provider posts the $50,000 statutory minimum under F.S. §409.907(7). Underwriters administering the program apply a per-location increment on top of that floor as you add enrolled service addresses under the same tax ID, with the combined bonded exposure capped at $250,000 statewide once you reach five locations — additional locations beyond that do not require additional bond capacity. If your group runs six clinics under one tax ID, you are not filing six separate $50,000 bonds; confirm the exact figure AHCA assigned on your enrollment notice before you buy, since the agency controls the final number.
Is Florida’s $50,000 Medicaid provider bond the same as the $500,000 nonimmigrant-alien healthcare bond?
No, and conflating them is the most expensive mistake we see. The $50,000 bond under F.S. §409.907(7) is a Medicaid enrollment condition tied to your provider agreement with AHCA. A separate, much larger $500,000 surety bond exists under F.S. §408.8065(2) — it applies only to home health agencies, home medical equipment providers, and health care clinics whose applicants or controlling interests are nonimmigrant aliens as defined in 8 U.S.C. §1101, and it guarantees licensure compliance, not Medicaid billing. A nonimmigrant-alien-owned home health agency that also bills Medicaid on a fee-for-service basis can be on the hook for both bonds simultaneously, for entirely different reasons and to different effect.
Do physician-owned practices and assisted living facilities really get to skip the billing-based increase?
Yes, F.S. §409.907(7) carves out two specific exceptions to the "$50,000 or total annual billing, whichever is greater" rule. If a physician or group of physicians licensed under chapter 458, 459, or 460 holds a 50% or greater ownership interest in the provider, the bond stays capped at $50,000 regardless of billing volume. The same cap applies to providers that are assisted living facilities licensed under chapter 429. Every other fee-for-service Medicaid provider in Florida is exposed to the uncapped billing-based increase.
My AHCA revalidation notice is due — does that mean my bond has to be renewed too?
Not necessarily, and this is where providers get tripped up. Federal rule 42 CFR §455.414 requires AHCA to revalidate every enrolled Medicaid provider’s screening at least once every five years. Your surety bond runs on its own clock: AHCA’s bond form is written to run continuously and stay in force for one year until it is canceled or your provider agreement expires, and industry practice is to post a fresh bond annually. The two dates rarely land together. A revalidation notice does not automatically mean your bond lapsed, but a lapsed bond during an active revalidation cycle can still suspend billing — check both dates independently rather than assuming one covers the other.
What happens if my Medicaid billing outgrows the bond I originally posted?
For a new provider, AHCA sets your initial bond based on your own estimate of first-year Medicaid billing. If your actual billing during that first year exceeds the bond amount you posted, the agency can require you to obtain an additional bond sized to your actual billing level — you do not wait for a renewal cycle to fix an undersized bond. Established providers face the same exposure every year the bond is filed: since the requirement is $50,000 or total billing, whichever is greater, a growth year can push next year’s required bond well past what you carried the year before.
All content is researched from official state and federal sources (.gov). BuySuretyBonds.com works with Treasury-listed surety carriers.
General information, not legal, billing-compliance, or underwriting advice. AHCA bond amounts, per-location stacking figures, and covered provider types change with rulemaking and enrollment policy updates. Confirm the exact requirement on your current AHCA enrollment or revalidation notice before purchasing a bond, and consult counsel for your specific ownership structure.
Count your provider numbers, then bond the whole stack at once
Tell us how many Medicaid provider numbers you have enrolled with AHCA and we'll quote the exact stack — not a single-location estimate that leaves your other locations uncovered.
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