Printable Format22-4612. Payment rate county, city or law enforcement agency liable to pay health care provider for person in custody; exceptions. (a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, a county, a city, a county or city law enforcement agency, a county department of corrections or the Kansas highway patrol shall be liable to pay a health care provider for health care services rendered to persons in the custody of such agencies the lesser of the actual amount billed by such health care provider or the medicaid rate. The provisions of this section shall not apply if a person in the custody of a county or city law enforcement agency, a county department of corrections or the Kansas highway patrol is covered under a current individual or group accident and health insurance policy, medical service plan contract, hospital service corporation contract, hospital and medical service corporation contract, fraternal benefit society or health maintenance organization contract.
(b) Nothing in this section shall prevent a county or city law enforcement agency, a county department of corrections, the Kansas highway patrol or such agencies' authorized vendors from entering into agreements with health care providers for the provision of health care services at terms, conditions and amounts that are different than the medicaid rate.
(c) It shall be the responsibility of the custodial county or city law enforcement agency, county department of corrections or the Kansas highway patrol or such agencies' agents, to determine, under agreement with the secretary of health and environment, the amount payable for the services provided and to communicate that determination along with the remittance advice and payment for the services provided.
(d) Nothing in this section shall be construed to create a duty on the part of a health care provider to render health care services to a person in the custody of a county or city law enforcement agency, a county department of corrections or the Kansas highway patrol.
(e) As used in this section:
(1) "County or city law enforcement agency" means a city police department, a county sheriff's department, a county law enforcement department as defined in K.S.A. 19-4401, and amendments thereto, or a law enforcement agency established pursuant to the consolidated city-county powers in K.S.A. 12-345, and amendments thereto.
(2) "Health care provider" means a person licensed to practice any branch of the healing arts by the state board of healing arts, a person who holds a temporary permit to practice any branch of the healing arts issued by the state board of healing arts, a person engaged in a postgraduate training program approved by the state board of healing arts, a licensed physician assistant, a person licensed by the behavioral sciences regulatory board, a medical care facility licensed by the department of health and environment, a podiatrist licensed by the state board of healing arts, an optometrist licensed by the board of examiners in optometry, a registered nurse, and* advanced nurse practitioner, a licensed professional nurse who is authorized to practice as a registered nurse anesthetist, a licensed practical nurse, a licensed physical therapist, a professional corporation organized pursuant to the professional corporation law of Kansas by persons who are authorized by such law to form such a corporation and who are health care providers as defined by this subsection, a Kansas limited liability company organized for the purpose of rendering professional services by its members who are health care providers as defined by this subsection and who are legally authorized to render the professional services for which the limited liability company is organized, a partnership of persons who are health care providers under this subsection, a Kansas not-for-profit corporation organized for the purpose of rendering professional services by persons who are health care providers as defined by this subsection, a dentist certified by the state board of healing arts to administer anesthetics under K.S.A. 65-2899, and amendments thereto, a psychiatric hospital licensed under K.S.A. 39-2001 et seq., and amendments thereto, a licensed social worker or a mental health center or mental health clinic licensed by the secretary for aging and disability services and any health care provider licensed by the appropriate regulatory body in another state that has a current approved provider agreement with the secretary of health and environment.
(3) "Medicaid rate" means the terms, conditions and amounts a health care provider would be paid for health care services rendered pursuant to a contract or provider agreement with the secretary of health and environment.
History: L. 2006, ch. 183, § 1; L. 2012, ch. 102, § 2; L. 2014, ch. 115, § 28; L. 2018, ch. 71, § 5; July 1.
Revisor's Note:
* The word "and" should have been "an" instead.
CASE ANNOTATIONS
1. The state may be held liable to pay for health care services rendered to an arrested person in the custody of the Kansas Highway Patrol prior to delivery of such person to a county jail. University of Kan. Hosp. Auth. v. Bd. of Comm'rs of Unified Gov't, 49 Kan. App. 2d 449, 313 P.3d 60 (2013).
2. A government agency has an obligation to pay a person's medical expenses if a person is in the agency's custody when the decision was made to obtain medical treatment; a formal arrest is not always necessary to show a person is in custody. Univ. of Kansas Hosp. Auth. v. Bd. of Cnty. Commissioners of Franklin Cnty., 58 Kan. App. 2d 367, 374, 468 P.3d 806 (2020), rev. granted (Nov. 20, 2020).
3. In a coordinated police action involving multiple law enforcement agencies, the agency with operational control has the obligation to pay for medical treatment requested during the action for an injured person taken into custody, and the agency having operational control should be based on the totality of the circumstances. Stormont-Vail Healthcare, Inc. v. Bd. of Cnty. Commissioners for Shawnee Cnty., 59 Kan. App. 2d 148, 480 P.3d 184 (2020).
4. City is not liable for medical expenses of indigent patient where officers discontinued vehicle pursuit and did not arrest patient at vehicle crash location. Univ. of Kan. Hosp. Auth. v. Bd. of Franklin Cnty. Comm'rs, 314 Kan. 74, 84-85, 495 P.3d 1 (2021).