BILL REQ. #:  H-1906.1 

READ FIRST TIME 03/01/13.   

     AN ACT Relating to health care services for inmates in city, county, and regional jails; amending RCW 70.48.130; and adding a new section to chapter 70.41 RCW.

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

Sec. 1   RCW 70.48.130 and 2011 1st sp.s. c 15 s 85 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) It is the intent of the legislature that all jail inmates receive appropriate and cost-effective emergency and necessary medical care. Governing units, the health care authority, and medical care providers shall cooperate to achieve the best rates consistent with adequate care.
     (2) Payment for emergency or necessary health care shall be by the governing unit, except that the health care authority shall directly reimburse the provider pursuant to chapter 74.09 RCW, in accordance with the rates and benefits established by the authority, if the confined person is eligible for medicaid and is admitted as an inpatient in a hospital, nursing facility, juvenile psychiatric facility, or intermediate care facility that is not part of the state or local correctional system, or the confined person is otherwise eligible under the authority's medical care programs as authorized under chapter 74.09 RCW. After payment by the authority, 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 authority for similar services provided under Title XIX medicaid, unless additional resources are obtained from the confined person.
     (3) Providers of hospital services that are hospitals licensed under chapter 70.41 RCW shall contract with a correctional facility for inpatient, outpatient, and ancillary services if deemed appropriate by the correctional facility. The correctional facility may only reimburse a provider of hospital services at a rate no more than the amount payable under the medicaid reimbursement structure, plus any additional amount provided specifically for this purpose in the state omnibus appropriations act, regardless of whether the hospital is located within or outside of Washington. A correctional facility may contract with the department of corrections, at the correctional facility's expense, to participate in the provider one system operated by the Washington state health care authority for payment of hospital services pursuant to this section.
     (4) 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 authority, the governing unit, and any provider of health care services.
     (((4))) (5) 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.
     (((5))) (6) To the extent that a confined person is unable to be financially responsible for medical care and is ineligible for the authority'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.
     (((6))) (7) 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.
     (((7))) (8) 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.
     (((8))) (9) 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.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   A new section is added to chapter 70.41 RCW to read as follows:
     As a condition of licensure, a hospital must contract with a correctional facility as defined in RCW 70.48.020 if a contract is requested by a correctional facility pursuant to the provisions of this act.