Florida Senate - 2011                              CS for SB 490
       
       
       
       By the Committee on Health Regulation; and Senator Jones
       
       
       
       
       588-02268-11                                           2011490c1
    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; defining the term “in
   39         custody pretrial detainee or sentenced inmate”;
   40         providing that law enforcement personnel or county or
   41         municipal detention facility personnel are responsible
   42         for restricting the personal freedom of certain in
   43         custody pretrial detainees or sentenced inmates;
   44         providing an effective date.
   45  
   46  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   47  
   48         Section 1. Section 901.35, Florida Statutes, is amended to
   49  read:
   50         901.35 Financial responsibility for medical expenses.—
   51         (1)Except as provided in s. 951.032 Notwithstanding any
   52  other provision of law, the responsibility for paying the
   53  expenses of medical care, treatment, hospitalization, and
   54  transportation for any person ill, wounded, or otherwise injured
   55  during or as a result at the time of an arrest for any violation
   56  of a state law or a county or municipal ordinance is the
   57  responsibility of the person receiving such care, treatment,
   58  hospitalization, and transportation. The provider of such
   59  services shall seek reimbursement for the expenses incurred in
   60  providing medical care, treatment, hospitalization, and
   61  transportation from the following sources in the following
   62  order:
   63         (a) From an insurance company, health care corporation, or
   64  other source, if the prisoner is covered by an insurance policy
   65  or subscribes to a health care corporation or other source for
   66  those expenses.
   67         (b) From the person receiving the medical care, treatment,
   68  hospitalization, or transportation.
   69         (c) From a financial settlement for the medical care,
   70  treatment, hospitalization, or transportation payable or
   71  accruing to the injured party.
   72         (2) Upon a showing that reimbursement from the sources
   73  listed in subsection (1) is not available, the costs of medical
   74  care, treatment, hospitalization, and transportation shall be
   75  paid:
   76         (a) From the general fund of the county in which the person
   77  was arrested, if the arrest was for violation of a state law or
   78  county ordinance; or
   79         (b) From the municipal general fund, if the arrest was for
   80  violation of a municipal ordinance.
   81  
   82  The responsibility for payment of such medical costs shall exist
   83  until such time as an arrested person is released from the
   84  custody of the arresting agency.
   85         (3) An arrested person who has health insurance, subscribes
   86  to a health care corporation, or receives health care benefits
   87  from any other source shall assign such benefits to the health
   88  care provider.
   89         Section 2. Section 951.032, Florida Statutes, is amended to
   90  read:
   91         951.032 Financial responsibility for medical expenses.—
   92         (1) A county detention facility or municipal detention
   93  facility incurring expenses for providing medical care,
   94  treatment, hospitalization, or transportation provided by the
   95  county or municipal detention facility may seek reimbursement
   96  for the expenses incurred during the course of treatment of in
   97  custody pretrial detainees or sentenced inmates in the following
   98  order:
   99         (a) From the in-custody pretrial detainee or sentenced
  100  inmate prisoner or person receiving medical care, treatment,
  101  hospitalization, or transportation by deducting the cost from
  102  the in-custody pretrial detainee’s or sentenced inmate’s
  103  prisoner’s cash account on deposit with the detention facility.
  104  If the in-custody pretrial detainee’s or sentenced inmate’s
  105  prisoner’s cash account does not contain sufficient funds to
  106  cover medical care, treatment, hospitalization, or
  107  transportation, then the detention facility may place a lien
  108  against the in-custody pretrial detainee’s or sentenced inmate’s
  109  prisoner’s cash account or other personal property, to provide
  110  payment in the event sufficient funds become available at a
  111  later time. Any existing lien may be carried over to future
  112  incarceration of the same detainee or inmate prisoner as long as
  113  the future incarceration takes place within the county
  114  originating the lien and the future incarceration takes place
  115  within 3 years after of the date the lien was placed against the
  116  in-custody pretrial detainee’s or sentenced inmate’s prisoner’s
  117  account or other personal property.
  118         (b) From an insurance company, health care corporation, or
  119  other source if the in-custody pretrial detainee or sentenced
  120  inmate prisoner or person is covered by an insurance policy or
  121  subscribes to a health care corporation or other source for
  122  those expenses.
  123         (2) An in-custody pretrial detainee or sentenced inmate A
  124  prisoner who receives medical care, treatment, hospitalization,
  125  or transportation by a county or municipal detention facility
  126  shall cooperate with that the county detention facility or
  127  municipal detention facility in seeking reimbursement under
  128  paragraphs(1)(a) and (b) for expenses incurred by the facility
  129  for the in-custody pretrial detainee or sentenced inmate
  130  prisoner. An in-custody pretrial detainee or sentenced inmate A
  131  prisoner who willfully refuses to cooperate with the
  132  reimbursement efforts of the detention facility may have a lien
  133  placed against his or her the prisoner’s cash account or other
  134  personal property and may not receive gain-time as provided by
  135  s. 951.21.
  136         (3) A third-party provider of medical care, treatment,
  137  hospitalization, or transportation for in-custody pretrial
  138  detainees or sentenced inmates of a county or municipal
  139  detention facility shall seek reimbursement for the expenses
  140  incurred in providing medical care, treatment, hospitalization,
  141  and transportation to such in-custody pretrial detainees or
  142  sentenced inmates from the following sources in the following
  143  order:
  144         (a) From an insurance company, health care corporation, or
  145  other source, if the pretrial detainee or sentenced inmate is
  146  covered by an insurance policy or subscribes to a health care
  147  corporation or other source for those expenses.
  148         (b) From the pretrial detainee or sentenced inmate
  149  receiving the medical care, treatment, hospitalization, or
  150  transportation.
  151         (c) From a financial settlement for the medical care,
  152  treatment, hospitalization, or transportation payable or
  153  accruing to the injured pretrial detainee or sentenced inmate.
  154         (4) Upon a showing by the third-party provider that a good
  155  faith effort was made, consistent with that providers usual
  156  policies and procedures related to the collection of fees from
  157  indigent patients outside the custody of a county or municipal
  158  detention facility, to obtain reimbursement from the sources
  159  listed in subsection (3), but that such reimbursement is not
  160  available, the costs of medical care, treatment,
  161  hospitalization, and transportation shall be paid:
  162         (a) From the general fund of the county in which the person
  163  was arrested, if the arrest was for violation of a state law or
  164  county ordinance; or
  165         (b) From the municipal general fund, if the arrest was for
  166  violation of a municipal ordinance.
  167         (5) Absent a written agreement between the third-party
  168  provider and the governmental body, the remuneration made
  169  pursuant to subsection (4) must be billed by the third-party
  170  provider and paid by the governmental body at a rate not to
  171  exceed 110 percent of the Medicare allowable rate for the
  172  service. Compensation to a third-party provider may not exceed
  173  125 percent of the Medicare allowable rate if there is no
  174  written agreement between the third-party provider and the
  175  governmental body and if the third-party provider reported a
  176  negative operating margin for the previous year to the Agency
  177  for Health Care Administration through hospital-audited
  178  financial data.
  179         (6) The provisions of subsection (5) do not apply to
  180  amounts billed and paid for physicians licensed under chapter
  181  458 or chapter 459 for emergency services provided within a
  182  hospital emergency department.
  183         (7) The responsibility of the governmental body for payment
  184  of any in-custody medical costs ceases upon release of the in
  185  custody pretrial detainee or sentenced inmate.
  186         (8) An in-custody pretrial detainee or sentenced inmate who
  187  has health insurance, subscribes to a health care corporation,
  188  or receives health care benefits from any other source shall
  189  assign such benefits to the health care provider.
  190         (9) As used in this section, the term “in-custody pretrial
  191  detainee or sentenced inmate” means a person whose physical
  192  freedom is restricted by a certified law enforcement officer or
  193  certified correctional officer pending disposition of an arrest
  194  or completion of a county court sentence. The term also includes
  195  a person who is furloughed by a criminal court for the express
  196  purpose of receiving medical treatment if a condition of the
  197  furlough is the immediate return to the custody of a county or
  198  municipal detention facility following completion of such
  199  treatment.
  200         (10) Law enforcement personnel or personnel of the county
  201  or municipal detention facility are responsible for restricting
  202  the personal freedom of in-custody pretrial detainees or
  203  sentenced inmates receiving treatment or services under this
  204  section.
  205         Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2011.