Florida Senate - 2011 SB 490
By Senator Jones
13-00330A-11 2011490__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to financial responsibility for
3 medical expenses of pretrial detainees or sentenced
4 inmates; amending s. 901.35, F.S.; providing that the
5 responsibility for paying the expenses of medical
6 care, treatment, hospitalization, and transportation
7 for a person who is ill, wounded, or otherwise injured
8 during or as a result of an arrest for a violation of
9 a state law or a county or municipal ordinance is the
10 responsibility of the person receiving the medical
11 care, treatment, hospitalization, or transportation;
12 removing provisions establishing the order by which
13 medical providers receive reimbursement for the
14 expenses incurred in providing the medical services or
15 transportation; amending s. 951.032, F.S.; setting
16 forth the order by which a county or municipal
17 detention facility may seek reimbursement for the
18 expenses incurred during the course of treating or
19 transporting in-custody pretrial detainees or
20 sentenced inmates; requiring each in-custody pretrial
21 detainee or sentenced inmate who receives medical care
22 or other services to cooperate with the county or
23 municipal detention facility in seeking reimbursement
24 for the expenses incurred by the facility; setting
25 forth the order of fiscal resources from which a
26 third-party provider of medical services may seek
27 reimbursement for the expenses the provider incurred
28 in providing medical care; providing that, absent a
29 written agreement between a third-party provider and a
30 governmental body, the remuneration be billed by the
31 third-party provider and paid by the governmental body
32 at a rate not to exceed a specified percent of the
33 Medicare allowable rate for the service rendered;
34 requiring each in-custody pretrial detainee or
35 sentenced inmate who has health insurance, subscribes
36 to a health care corporation, or receives health care
37 benefits from any other source to assign such benefits
38 to the health care provider; providing an effective
39 date.
40
41 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
42
43 Section 1. Section 901.35, Florida Statutes, is amended to
44 read:
45 901.35 Financial responsibility for medical expenses.—
46 (1) Except as provided in s. 951.032 Notwithstanding any
47 other provision of law, the responsibility for paying the
48 expenses of medical care, treatment, hospitalization, and
49 transportation for any person ill, wounded, or otherwise injured
50 during or as a result at the time of an arrest for any violation
51 of a state law or a county or municipal ordinance is the
52 responsibility of the person receiving such care, treatment,
53 hospitalization, and transportation. The provider of such
54 services shall seek reimbursement for the expenses incurred in
55 providing medical care, treatment, hospitalization, and
56 transportation from the following sources in the following
57 order:
58 (a) From an insurance company, health care corporation, or
59 other source, if the prisoner is covered by an insurance policy
60 or subscribes to a health care corporation or other source for
61 those expenses.
62 (b) From the person receiving the medical care, treatment,
63 hospitalization, or transportation.
64 (c) From a financial settlement for the medical care,
65 treatment, hospitalization, or transportation payable or
66 accruing to the injured party.
67 (2) Upon a showing that reimbursement from the sources
68 listed in subsection (1) is not available, the costs of medical
69 care, treatment, hospitalization, and transportation shall be
70 paid:
71 (a) From the general fund of the county in which the person
72 was arrested, if the arrest was for violation of a state law or
73 county ordinance; or
74 (b) From the municipal general fund, if the arrest was for
75 violation of a municipal ordinance.
76
77 The responsibility for payment of such medical costs shall exist
78 until such time as an arrested person is released from the
79 custody of the arresting agency.
80 (3) An arrested person who has health insurance, subscribes
81 to a health care corporation, or receives health care benefits
82 from any other source shall assign such benefits to the health
83 care provider.
84 Section 2. Section 951.032, Florida Statutes, is amended to
85 read:
86 951.032 Financial responsibility for medical expenses.—
87 (1) A county detention facility or municipal detention
88 facility incurring expenses for providing medical care,
89 treatment, hospitalization, or transportation provided by the
90 county or municipal detention facility may seek reimbursement
91 for the expenses incurred during the course of treatment of in
92 custody pretrial detainees or sentenced inmates in the following
93 order:
94 (a) From the in-custody pretrial detainee or sentenced
95 inmate prisoner or person receiving medical care, treatment,
96 hospitalization, or transportation by deducting the cost from
97 the in-custody pretrial detainee’s or sentenced inmate’s
98 prisoner’s cash account on deposit with the detention facility.
99 If the in-custody pretrial detainee’s or sentenced inmate’s
100 prisoner’s cash account does not contain sufficient funds to
101 cover medical care, treatment, hospitalization, or
102 transportation, then the detention facility may place a lien
103 against the in-custody pretrial detainee’s or sentenced inmate’s
104 prisoner’s cash account or other personal property, to provide
105 payment in the event sufficient funds become available at a
106 later time. Any existing lien may be carried over to future
107 incarceration of the same detainee or inmate prisoner as long as
108 the future incarceration takes place within the county
109 originating the lien and the future incarceration takes place
110 within 3 years after of the date the lien was placed against the
111 in-custody pretrial detainee’s or sentenced inmate’s prisoner’s
112 account or other personal property.
113 (b) From an insurance company, health care corporation, or
114 other source if the in-custody pretrial detainee or sentenced
115 inmate prisoner or person is covered by an insurance policy or
116 subscribes to a health care corporation or other source for
117 those expenses.
118 (2) An in-custody pretrial detainee or sentenced inmate A
119 prisoner who receives medical care, treatment, hospitalization,
120 or transportation by a county or municipal detention facility
121 shall cooperate with that the county detention facility or
122 municipal detention facility in seeking reimbursement under
123 paragraphs(1)(a) and (b) for expenses incurred by the facility
124 for the in-custody pretrial detainee or sentenced inmate
125 prisoner. An in-custody pretrial detainee or sentenced inmate A
126 prisoner who willfully refuses to cooperate with the
127 reimbursement efforts of the detention facility may have a lien
128 placed against his or her the prisoner’s cash account or other
129 personal property and may not receive gain-time as provided by
130 s. 951.21.
131 (3) A third-party provider of medical care, treatment,
132 hospitalization, or transportation for in-custody pretrial
133 detainees or sentenced inmates of a county or municipal
134 detention facility shall seek reimbursement for the expenses
135 incurred in providing medical care, treatment, hospitalization,
136 and transportation to such in-custody pretrial detainees or
137 sentenced inmates from the following sources in the following
138 order:
139 (a) From an insurance company, health care corporation, or
140 other source, if the pretrial detainee or sentenced inmate is
141 covered by an insurance policy or subscribes to a health care
142 corporation or other source for those expenses.
143 (b) From the pretrial detainee or sentenced inmate
144 receiving the medical care, treatment, hospitalization, or
145 transportation.
146 (c) From a financial settlement for the medical care,
147 treatment, hospitalization, or transportation payable or
148 accruing to the injured pretrial detainee or sentenced inmate.
149 (4) Upon a showing by the third-party provider that a good
150 faith effort was made, consistent with that provider’s usual
151 policies and procedures related to the collection of fees from
152 indigent patients outside the custody of a county or municipal
153 detention facility, to obtain reimbursement from the sources
154 listed in subsection (1), but that such reimbursement is not
155 available, the costs of medical care, treatment,
156 hospitalization, and transportation shall be paid:
157 (a) From the general fund of the county in which the person
158 was arrested, if the arrest was for violation of a state law or
159 county ordinance; or
160 (b) From the municipal general fund, if the arrest was for
161 violation of a municipal ordinance.
162
163 Absent a written agreement between the third-party provider and
164 the governmental body, the remuneration made pursuant to
165 paragraph (a) or paragraph (b) must be billed by the third-party
166 provider and paid by the governmental body at a rate not to
167 exceed 110 percent of the Medicare allowable rate for the
168 service. Compensation to a third-party provider may not exceed
169 125 percent of the Medicare allowable rate if there is no
170 written agreement between the third-party provider and the
171 governmental body and if the third-party provider reported a
172 negative operating margin for the previous year to the Agency
173 for Health Care Administration through hospital-audited
174 financial data. However, these maximum allowable rates do not
175 apply to amounts billed and paid for physicians licensed under
176 chapter 458 or chapter 459 for emergency services provided
177 within a hospital emergency department. The responsibility of
178 the governmental body for payment of any in-custody medical
179 costs ceases upon release of the in-custody pretrial detainee or
180 sentenced inmate.
181 (5) An in-custody pretrial detainee or sentenced inmate who
182 has health insurance, subscribes to a health care corporation,
183 or receives health care benefits from any other source shall
184 assign such benefits to the health care provider.
185 Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2011.