H. B. 2434
(By Mr. Speaker, Mr. Kiss (By Request))
[Introduced February 21, 2001; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary then Finance.]
A BILL to amend article twenty, chapter thirty-one of the code of
West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated section
twenty-nine, relating to assessing regional jail inmates fees
for certain medical services; exceptions; and rules.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article twenty, chapter thirty-one of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be
amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section
twenty-nine, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 20. WEST VIRGINIA REGIONAL JAIL AND PRISON AUTHORITY.
§31-20-29. Assessment for inmate medical care.
(a) The authority is authorized to assess inmates serving a sentence in any regional jail facility reasonable charges for
health care and treatment services provided to them by the state.
The charges assessed against an inmate may be deducted directly
from the inmate's trustee account without the inmate's consent.
The inmate shall be notified of the amount deducted and the charges
to which it has been applied.
(b) As used in this section, a "reasonable charge" may not
exceed the sum of five dollars for any billable service. Inmates
shall be notified of the fee schedule, billable services and exempt
services. Services initiated by the inmate shall be assessed a
fee, except that no charge may be assessed for: (1) A specific
health care service required under the law of this state,
including, by way of illustration, tuberculin testing; (2) an
emergency service following a traumatic injury other than a
self-induced injury, or necessary to prevent death or severe or
permanent disability; (3) diagnosis and treatment of communicable
diseases, including, by way of illustration, tuberculosis or
hepatitis; (4) treatment of diagnosed severe mental illness; (5)
treatment of specific chronic conditions identified by the
authority, including heart disease and diabetes; (6)
staff-initiated care, including follow-up and referral visits; (7) preventive services that the authority determines are to be
provided or made available to all inmates, including services
related to disease prevention and promotion of proper health
habits; or (8) such other services as may be exempted by rule of
the authority. No inmate may be denied any necessary billable
medical service because of inability to pay the charge.
(c) Each inmate shall be afforded an opportunity at least
quarterly to review all deposits into, withdrawals from and balance
remaining in the inmate's trustee account during the preceding
three months.
(d) The authority shall promulgate interpretive rules
implementing this section pursuant to article three, chapter
twenty-nine-a of this code, prior to making any assessment under
this section. The rules may establish the fee schedule and list of
billable services and further define services to be exempted.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to assess regional jail
inmates fees for certain medical services.
This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.