31-3509 ADMINISTRATIVE OFFSETS AND COLLECTIONS BY HOSPITALS AND PROVIDERS.
COUNTIES AND COUNTY LAW
CHAPTER 35
HOSPITALS FOR INDIGENT SICK
31-3509. administrative offsets and Collections by hospitals and providers. (1) Providers shall accept payment made by an obligated county or the board as payment in full. Providers shall not bill an applicant or any other obligated person for services that have been paid by an obligated county or the board pursuant to the provisions of this chapter for any balance on the amount paid.
(2) Hospitals and providers making claims for reimbursement of necessary medical services provided for medically indigent persons shall make all reasonable efforts to determine liability and attempt to collect for the account so incurred from all resources prior to submitting the bill to the county commissioners for review. In the event that a hospital or a provider has been notified that a recipient is retrospectively eligible for benefits or that a recipient qualifies for approval of benefits, such hospital(s) or provider(s) shall submit or resubmit a bill to third party insurance, medicaid, medicare, supplemental security income, crime victims compensation and/or worker's compensation for payment within thirty (30) days of such notice. In the event any payments are thereafter received for charges which have been paid by a county and/or the board pursuant to the provisions of this chapter, said sums up to the amount actually paid by the county and/or the board shall be paid over to such county and/or board within sixty (60) days of receiving such payment from other resources.
(3) Any amount paid by an obligated county or the board under the provisions of this chapter, which amount is subsequently determined to have been an overpayment, shall be an indebtedness of the hospital or provider due and owing to the obligated county and the board. Such indebtedness may include circumstances where the applicant is subsequently determined to be eligible for third party insurance, medicaid, medicare, supplemental security income, crime victims compensation, worker’s compensation, other available insurance or other third party sources.
(4) The obligated county and the board shall have a first lien prorated between such county and the board in proportion to the amount each has paid. The obligated county and the board may request a refund from a hospital or provider in the amount of the overpayment, or after notice, recover such indebtedness by deducting from and setting off the amount of the overpayment to a hospital or provider from any outstanding amount or amounts due and payable to the same hospital or provider pursuant to the provisions of this chapter.