BP BHEAD INT S [atlas:bill]

AN ACT Relating to family planning for incarcerated women; and amending RCW 70.48.130 and 74.50.050.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

Sec. 1. RCW 70.48.130 and 1993 c 409 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:

It is the intent of the legislature that all jail inmates receive appropriate and cost-effective emergency and necessary medical care. For women of childbearing age, necessary medical care includes access to birth control and family planning services as defined in RCW 74.50.050(4). Governing units, the department of social and health services, and medical care providers shall cooperate to achieve the best rates consistent with adequate care.

Payment for emergency or necessary health care shall be by the governing unit, except that the department of social and health services shall directly reimburse the provider pursuant to chapter 74.09 RCW, in accordance with the rates and benefits established by the department, if the confined person is eligible under the department's medical care programs as authorized under chapter 74.09 RCW. After payment by the department, the financial responsibility for any remaining balance, including unpaid client liabilities that are a condition of eligibility or participation under chapter 74.09 RCW, shall be borne by the medical care provider and the governing unit as may be mutually agreed upon between the medical care provider and the governing unit. In the absence of mutual agreement between the medical care provider and the governing unit, the financial responsibility for any remaining balance shall be borne equally between the medical care provider and the governing unit. Total payments from all sources to providers for care rendered to confined persons eligible under chapter 74.09 RCW shall not exceed the amounts that would be paid by the department for similar services provided under Title XIX medicaid, unless additional resources are obtained from the confined person.

As part of the screening process upon booking or preparation of an inmate into jail, general information concerning the inmate's ability to pay for medical care shall be identified, including insurance or other medical benefits or resources to which an inmate is entitled. This information shall be made available to the department, the governing unit, and any provider of health care services.

The governing unit or provider may obtain reimbursement from the confined person for the cost of health care services not provided under chapter 74.09 RCW, including reimbursement from any insurance program or from other medical benefit programs available to the confined person. Nothing in this chapter precludes civil or criminal remedies to recover the costs of medical care provided jail inmates or paid for on behalf of inmates by the governing unit. As part of a judgment and sentence, the courts are authorized to order defendants to repay all or part of the medical costs incurred by the governing unit or provider during confinement.

To the extent that a confined person is unable to be financially responsible for medical care and is ineligible for the department's medical care programs under chapter 74.09 RCW, or for coverage from private sources, and in the absence of an interlocal agreement or other contracts to the contrary, the governing unit may obtain reimbursement for the cost of such medical services from the unit of government whose law enforcement officers initiated the charges on which the person is being held in the jail: PROVIDED, That reimbursement for the cost of such services shall be by the state for state prisoners being held in a jail who are accused of either escaping from a state facility or of committing an offense in a state facility.

There shall be no right of reimbursement to the governing unit from units of government whose law enforcement officers initiated the charges for which a person is being held in the jail for care provided after the charges are disposed of by sentencing or otherwise, unless by intergovernmental agreement pursuant to chapter 39.34 RCW.

Under no circumstance shall necessary medical services be denied or delayed because of disputes over the cost of medical care or a determination of financial responsibility for payment of the costs of medical care provided to confined persons.

Nothing in this section shall limit any existing right of any party, governing unit, or unit of government against the person receiving the care for the cost of the care provided.

Sec. 2. RCW 74.50.050 and 1989 1st ex.s. c 18 s 5 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) The department shall establish a treatment program to provide, within available funds, alcohol and drug treatment services for indigent persons eligible under this chapter. The treatment services shall include access to and provision of family planning services. The treatment services may include but are not limited to:

(a) Intensive inpatient treatment services;

(b) Recovery house treatment;

(c) Outpatient treatment and counseling, including assistance in obtaining employment, and including a living allowance while undergoing outpatient treatment. The living allowance may not be used to provide shelter to clients in a dormitory setting that does not require sobriety as a condition of residence. The living allowance shall be administered on the clients' behalf by the outpatient treatment facility or other social service agency designated by the department. The department is authorized to pay the facility a fee for administering this allowance.

(2) No individual may receive treatment services under this section for more than six months in any two-year period: PROVIDED, That the department may approve additional treatment and/or living allowance as an exception.

(3) The department may require an applicant or recipient selecting treatment to complete inpatient and recovery house treatment when, in the judgment of a designated assessment center, such treatment is necessary prior to providing the outpatient program.

(4) "Family planning services" means the process of limiting or spacing the birth of children. The process may include the provision of acceptable and effective education, counseling, reproductive health care, testing, and services other than pregnancy termination.