2006 Louisiana Laws - RS 22:239 — Service charges

§239.  Service charges

A.(1)  Each patient, except a private pay patient, one covered by Medicare or any other public program, one who is covered by the State Employees Group Benefit Program, or one covered by an insolvent insurer, admitted to a hospital for treatment other than psychiatric care or alcohol or substance abuse, shall be assessed a service charge of two dollars for each day, or portion thereof, during which the patient is confined as an inpatient in that facility.

(2)  Each hospital in which a patient is confined shall calculate the total service charge due for that patient's period of confinement and shall include the total service charge in the bill for services rendered to the patient.  The individual patient may be obligated to pay the service charge assessed in the event that an insurance arrangement pays for any medical charges or benefits but fails to pay the service charge assessed pursuant to this Section.  The service charge shall be collected as provided for in the plan of operation of the plan as established pursuant to R.S. 22:235.

(3)  For purposes of this Section only, "hospital" shall not include any hospital operated by the state, or any hospital created or operated by the Department of Veterans Affairs or other agency of the United States of America or any facility operated solely to provide psychiatric care or treatment of alcohol or substance abuse, or both.

B.  Each patient, except a private pay patient, one covered by Medicare or any other public program which is directly subsidized by the federal government, one who is covered by the State Employees Group Benefit Program, or one covered by an insolvent insurer, admitted to an ambulatory surgical center or to a hospital for outpatient ambulatory surgical care shall be assessed a service charge of one dollar for each admission to that facility.  The service charge shall be included in the bill for services or supplies, or both, rendered to the patient by the ambulatory surgical center or hospital.

C.(1)  Each hospital and ambulatory surgical center shall bill for and collect the service charges assessed herein from monies remitted to it in payment thereof in accordance with R.S. 22:213.2, if authorized by the plan of operation under R.S. 22:235.  In the event that no payment is made by or on behalf of the patient for services rendered, the health care provider shall be liable only for the remittance of those fees collected.  Each hospital and ambulatory surgical center shall remit to the plan for each reporting period, as established in the plan of operation, the total amount of service charges collected during that reporting period in accordance with the reporting and remittance procedures established by the plan pursuant to R.S. 22:235.

(2)  Unless permitted by the board, the intentional failure to bill, pay, report, or delineate as service charges in accordance with this Section shall cause the hospital or ambulatory surgical center to be liable to the plan for an amount determined by the board, not to exceed five hundred dollars, plus interest, per failure.  Any hospital or ambulatory surgical center found to have intentionally failed to bill, pay, report, or delineate as service charges according to this Section unless permitted by the board on three or more occasions during a six-month period shall be liable for an amount determined by the board, not to exceed one thousand five hundred dollars per failure, together with attorney fees, and court costs.

(3)  The plan or the commissioner, or both, are specifically authorized and empowered to conduct audits of hospitals and ambulatory surgical centers in order to enforce compliance with this Section.  Fines levied under this Section shall be consistent with those levied against insurers under this Part.

D.  The service charges imposed on hospital and ambulatory surgical center patients by this Section shall be payable by the patient's insurer or insurance arrangement, if any, as applicable, except such charges shall not be payable by an insolvent insurer.  In no event shall a hospital or ambulatory surgical center be required to remit to the plan uncollected service charges for any patient who is a private pay patient or for any patient whose insurer or insurance arrangement is not legally required to pay the service charge.

E.  If monies in the plan at the end of any fiscal year exceed actual losses and administrative expenses of the plan, the excess shall be held at interest and used by the board to offset future losses.  As used in this Subsection, "future losses" includes reserves for incurred but not reported claims.

F.  For the purposes of this Section, insurance, insurance arrangement, or policy of an insurer also includes any policy or plan of insurance or of self-insurance which provides payment, indemnity, or reimbursement for charges resulting from accident, injury, or illness when an employer or insurer is responsible for those charges.  The terms insurance, insurance arrangement, or policy shall not include short-term, accident only, fixed indemnity, credit insurance, automobile and homeowner's medical payment coverage, or coverage issued as a supplement to liability insurance.

Acts 1990, No. 131, §1, eff. Sept. 1, 1990; Acts 1991, No. 768, §1, eff. July 19, 1991; Acts 1993, No. 191, §1; Acts 1997, No. 1154, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1998; Acts 1999, No. 163, §1.

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