2022 Wisconsin Statutes & Annotations
Chapter 302 - Prisons; state, county and municipal.
302.386 - Medical and dental services for prisoners and forensic patients.

302.386 Medical and dental services for prisoners and forensic patients.

(1) Except as provided in sub. (5), liability for medical and dental services furnished to residents housed in prisons identified in s. 302.01, in a juvenile correctional facility, or in a secured residential care center for children and youth, or to forensic patients in state institutions for those services that are not provided by employees of the department shall be limited to the amounts payable under ss. 49.43 to 49.471, excluding ss. 49.468 and 49.471 (11), for similar services. The department may waive any such limit if it determines that needed services cannot be obtained for the applicable amount. No provider of services may bill the resident or patient for the cost of services exceeding the amount of the liability under this subsection.

(2) The liability of the state for medical and dental services under sub. (1) does not extend to that part of the medical or dental services of a resident housed in a prison identified in s. 302.01, a juvenile correctional facility, or a secured residential care center for children and youth, for which any of the following applies:

(a) The resident has the financial ability to pay.

(b) The service is payable under any of the following:

1. A disability insurance policy under subch. VI of ch. 632.

2. Worker's compensation under ch. 102.

3. Benefits from the state department of veterans affairs or the federal department of veterans affairs.

4. Hill-Burton benefits under 42 USC 291c (e).

5. Medicare benefits under 42 USC 1395 to 1395ccc, as limited by 42 USC 402 (x).

6. Third-party liability other than that in subds. 1. to 5.

(2m) The department shall collect moneys under sub. (2) for medical and dental services furnished to residents under sub. (1) and credit those moneys to the appropriation account under s. 20.410 (1) (gi).

(3)

(a) Except as provided in par. (b), the department may require a resident housed in a prison identified in s. 302.01 or in a juvenile correctional facility who receives medical or dental services to pay a deductible, coinsurance, copayment, or similar charge upon the medical or dental service that he or she receives. The department shall collect the allowable deductible, coinsurance, copayment, or similar charge.

(b) If the resident under par. (a) requests the medical services or dental services, the department shall require the resident to pay the deductible, coinsurance, copayment or similar charge. The department may not charge the person less than $2.50 for each request. The requirements under this paragraph are subject to the exception and waiver provisions under par. (c).

(c) No provider of services may deny care or services because the resident is unable to pay the applicable deductible, coinsurance, copayment or similar charge, but an inability to pay these charges does not relieve the resident of liability for the charges unless the department excepts or waives the liability under criteria that the department shall establish by rule.

(d) The department shall credit all moneys that it collects under this subsection to the appropriation account under s. 20.410 (1) (gi).

(4) The department shall promulgate rules to establish all of the following:

(a) The specific medical or dental services on which a deductible, coinsurance, copayment or similar charge may be imposed under sub. (3) (a) or must be imposed under sub. (3) (b).

(b) The amounts of deductibles, coinsurances, copayments or similar charges for the medical or dental services under par. (a).

(5) The state is not required to provide medical or dental services to any of the following:

(a) Any prisoner who is confined in the institution authorized in s. 301.046 (1).

(b) Any participant in the intensive sanctions program under s. 301.048 unless he or she is imprisoned in a Type 1 prison other than the institution authorized in s. 301.046 (1).

(c) Any person who is subject to community supervision under s. 938.533 unless the person is placed in a Type 1 juvenile correctional facility, as defined in s. 938.02 (19).

(d) Any participant in the serious juvenile offender program under s. 938.538 unless the participant is placed in a Type 1 juvenile correctional facility, as defined in s. 938.02 (19).

(5m)

(a) In this subsection:

1. “Hormonal therapy" means the use of hormones to stimulate the development or alteration of a person's sexual characteristics in order to alter the person's physical appearance so that the person appears more like the opposite gender.

2. “Sexual reassignment surgery" means surgical procedures to alter a person's physical appearance so that the person appears more like the opposite gender.

(b) The department may not authorize the payment of any funds or the use of any resources of this state or the payment of any federal funds passing through the state treasury to provide or to facilitate the provision of hormonal therapy or sexual reassignment surgery for a resident or patient specified in sub. (1).

NOTE: In Fields v. Smith, 712 F. Supp. 2d 830 (2010) the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin granted a permanent injunction restraining the enforcement or attempted enforcement of sub. (5m) because any application of the statute would violate the 8th Amendment and Equal Protection clause of the U.S. Constitution. The U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the district court at 653 F.3d 550 (2012).

(6) The department may collect a deductible, coinsurance, copayment or similar charge under this section or the department or the attorney general may collect under s. 301.325, but the state may not collect for the same expense twice.

History: 1985 a. 29; 1989 a. 31 ss. 1661, 1662; Stats. 1989 s. 302.386; 1991 a. 39; 1995 a. 27, 77; 2001 a. 16; 2005 a. 105, 344; 2007 a. 20; 2015 a. 55.