44TH LEGISLATURE - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - FIRST SESSION, 1999

RELATING TO HEALTH; CHANGING CERTAIN DEFINITIONS AND REPORTING REQUIREMENTS IN THE INDIGENT HOSPITAL AND COUNTY HEALTH CARE ACT.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:

Section 1. Section 27-5-4 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1965, Chapter 234, Section 4, as amended) is amended to read:

"27-5-4. DEFINITIONS.--As used in the Indigent Hospital and County Health Care Act:

A. "ambulance provider" or "ambulance service" means a specialized carrier based within the state authorized under provisions and subject to limitations as provided in individual carrier certificates issued by the [state corporation commission] public regulation commission to transport persons alive, dead or dying en route by means of ambulance service. The rates and charges established by [state corporation commission] public regulation commission tariff shall govern as to allowable cost. Also included are air ambulance services approved by the board. The air ambulance service charges shall be filed and approved pursuant to Subsection D of Section 27-5-6 NMSA 1978 and Section 27-5-11 NMSA 1978;

B. "board" means a county indigent hospital and county health care board;

C. "indigent patient" means a person to whom an ambulance service, a hospital or a health care provider has provided medical care, ambulance transportation or health care services and who can normally support himself and his dependents on present income and liquid assets available to him but, taking into consideration this income and those assets and his requirement for other necessities of life for himself and his dependents, is unable to pay the cost of the ambulance transportation or medical care administered or both. If provided by resolution of a board, it shall not include any person whose annual income together with his spouse's annual income totals an amount that is fifty percent greater than the per capita personal income for New Mexico as shown for the most recent year available in the survey of current business published by the United States department of commerce. Every board that has a balance remaining in the fund at the end of a given fiscal year shall consider and may adopt at the first meeting of the succeeding fiscal year a resolution increasing the standard for indigency. The term "indigent patient" includes a minor who has received ambulance transportation or medical care or both and whose parent or the person having custody of that minor would qualify as an indigent patient if transported by ambulance or admitted to a hospital for care or treated by a health care provider or all three;

D. "hospital" means any general or limited hospital licensed by the department of health, whether nonprofit or owned by a political subdivision, and may include by resolution of a board the following health facilities if licensed or, in the case of out-of-state hospitals, approved, by the department of health:

(1) for-profit hospitals;

(2) state-owned hospitals; or

(3) licensed out-of-state hospitals where treatment provided is necessary for the proper care of an indigent patient when that care is not available in an in-state hospital;

E. "cost" means all allowable ambulance transportation costs, medical care costs or costs of providing health care services, to the extent determined by resolution of a board, for an indigent patient. Allowable costs shall be determined in accordance with a uniform system of accounting and cost analysis as determined by regulation of a board, which includes cost of ancillary services but shall not include the cost of servicing long-term indebtedness of a hospital, health care provider or ambulance service;

F. "fund" means a county indigent hospital claims fund;

G. "medicaid eligible" means a person who is eligible for medical assistance from the department;

H. "county" means any county except a class A county with a county hospital operated and maintained pursuant to a lease with a state educational institution named in Article 12, Section 11 of the constitution of New Mexico;

I. "department" means the human services department;

J. "sole community provider hospital" means a hospital that is a sole community provider hospital under the provisions of the federal medicare guidelines established in 42 C.F.R. 412.92 pursuant to Title 18 of the federal Social Security Act;

K. "drug rehabilitation center" means an agency of local government, a state agency, a private nonprofit entity or combination thereof that operates drug abuse rehabilitation programs that meet the standards and requirements pursuant to the Drug Abuse Act;

L. "alcohol rehabilitation center" means an agency of local government, a state agency, a private nonprofit entity or combination thereof that operates alcohol abuse rehabilitation programs that meet the standards set by the department of health pursuant to the Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse Prevention, Screening and Treatment Act;

M. "mental health center" means a not-for-profit center that provides outpatient mental health services that meet the standards set by the department of health pursuant to the Community Mental Health Services Act;

N. "health care provider" means:

(1) a nursing home;

(2) an in-state home health agency;

(3) an in-state licensed hospice;

(4) a community-based health program operated by a political subdivision of the state or other nonprofit health organization that provides prenatal care delivered by New Mexico licensed, certified or registered health care practitioners;

(5) a community-based health program operated by a political subdivision of the state or other nonprofit health care organization that provides primary care delivered by New Mexico licensed, certified or registered health care practitioners;

(6) a drug rehabilitation center;

(7) an alcohol rehabilitation center; [or]

(8) a mental health center; or

(9) any health care professional or facility appropriately licensed by the state that, in the judgment of the board, provides medically indicated services necessary for the good health and well-being of indigent patients.

O. "health care services" means all treatment and services designed to promote improved health in the county indigent population, including primary care, prenatal care, dental care, provision of prescription drugs, preventive care or health outreach services, to the extent determined by resolution of the board; [and]

P. "planning" means the development of a countywide or multicounty health plan to improve and fund health services in the county based on the county's needs assessment and inventory of existing services and resources and which demonstrates coordination between the county and state and local health planning efforts; and

Q. "commission" means the New Mexico health policy commission."

Section 2. Section 27-5-5.1 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1993, Chapter 321, Section 17) is amended to read:

"27-5-5.1. INDIGENT HEALTH CARE REPORT--REQUIRED.--Every county in New Mexico shall file an annual report on all indigent health care [funded in whole or in part] funding by the county with the [local government division of the department of finance and administration] commission. The report shall contain the county's eligibility criteria for indigent patients, services provided to indigent patients, restrictions on services provided to indigent patients, conditions for reimbursement to providers of health care, revenue sources used to pay for indigent health care and other related information as determined by the [local government division] commission. The report shall be submitted by [July 31] October 1 of each year on a form provided by the [local government division and shall provide information from the previous fiscal year] commission. The [local government division] commission shall make the report available [for analysis by] to interested parties."

Section 3. Section 27-5-6 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1965, Chapter 234, Section 6, as amended) is amended to read:

"27-5-6. POWERS AND DUTIES OF THE BOARD.--The board:

A. shall administer claims pursuant to the provisions of the Indigent Hospital and County Health Care Act;

B. shall prepare and submit a budget to the board of county commissioners for the amount needed to defray claims made upon the fund and to pay costs of administration of the Indigent Hospital and County Health Care Act and costs of development of a countywide or multicounty health plan. The combined costs of administration and planning shall in no event exceed the following percentages of revenues based on the previous fiscal year revenues for a fund that has existed for at least one fiscal year or based on projected revenues for the year being budgeted for a fund that has existed for less than one fiscal year. The percentage of the revenues in the fund that may be used for such combined administrative and planning costs is equal to the sum of the following:

(1) ten percent of the amount of the revenues in the fund not over five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000);

(2) eight percent of the amount of the revenues in the fund over five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) but not over one million dollars ($1,000,000); and

(3) four and one-half percent of the amount of the revenues in the fund over one million dollars ($1,000,000);

C. shall make rules and regulations necessary to carry out the provisions of the Indigent Hospital and County Health Care Act; provided that the standards for eligibility and allowable costs for county indigent patients shall be no more restrictive than the standards for eligibility and allowable costs prior to December 31, 1992;

D. shall set criteria and cost limitations for medical care in licensed out-of-state hospitals, ambulance services or health care providers;

E. shall cooperate with appropriate state agencies to use available funds efficiently and to make health care more available;

F. shall cooperate with the department in making any investigation to determine the validity of claims made upon the fund for any indigent patient;

G. may accept contributions or other county revenues, which shall be deposited in the fund;

H. may hire personnel to carry out the provisions of the Indigent Hospital and County Health Care Act;

I. shall review all claims presented by a hospital, ambulance service or health care provider to determine compliance with the rules and regulations adopted by the board or with the provisions of the Indigent Hospital and County Health Care Act, determine whether the patient for whom the claim is made is an indigent patient and determine the allowable medical, ambulance service or health care services costs; provided that the burden of proof of any claim shall be upon the hospital, ambulance service or health care provider;

J. shall state in writing the reason for rejecting or disapproving any claim and shall notify the submitting hospital, ambulance service or health care provider of the decision within sixty days after eligibility for claim payment has been determined;

K. shall pay all claims that are not matched with federal funds under the state medicaid program and that have been approved by the board from the fund and shall make payment within [sixty] thirty days after approval of a claim by the board;

L. shall determine by county ordinance the types of health care providers that will be eligible to submit claims under the Indigent Hospital and County Health Care Act;

M. shall review, verify and approve all medicaid sole community provider hospital payment requests in accordance with rules and regulations adopted by the board prior to their submittal by the hospital to the department for payment but no later than January 1 of each year;

N. shall transfer to the state treasurer by the last day of March, June, September and December of each year an amount equal to one-fourth of the county's payment for support of sole community provider payments as calculated by the department for that county for the current fiscal year. This money shall be deposited in the sole community provider fund;

O. may provide for the transfer of money from the county indigent hospital claims fund to the county-supported medicaid fund to meet the requirements of the Statewide Health Care Act; and

P. may contract with ambulance providers, hospitals or health care providers for the provision of health care services."