Pulaski County should save some money in the future, after learning that Pulaski Memorial Hospital has likely been overcharging the Sheriff’s Department for years.
County Attorney Kevin Tankersley told the county commissioners Monday he’s been working to clarify who’s responsible for the health care costs of people taken to the hospital by the Sheriff’s Department. “It’s not the hospital’s fault, but it was perhaps a misunderstanding of what the law is,” he explained. “And we’ve now got a new contract, a new understanding, new forms for the officers. New forms are out at the hospital. Everybody’s been trained on it, so hopefully, that expense is going to be drastically reduced.”
He says that who should pay depends on the situation. If a jail inmate is taken to the hospital, the county’s health insurance takes care of the cost. Additionally, inmates who have been in the jail for at least 30 days are eligible for Medicare or Medicaid.
However, if an officer picks up a suspect at the scene of a crime and he or she hasn’t been booked into jail yet, Tankersley says that person’s health care costs are covered by a contract between the Sheriff’s Department and the hospital. “We are obligated under statute to pay the Medicare reimbursement rate plus four percent,” he said. “This year’s Medicare reimbursement rate is 32 percent, so we’re paying 36 percent, 36 cents on the dollar. So if somebody has a $1,000 medical bill, we’re paying $360.”
However, accident victims who are not suspected of crimes are not the county’s financial responsibility. Tankersley says that’s where problems have come up. “Those are some of the bills that have made their way to the county anyway and have been paid by the county,” he said. “Also, we noticed – and this kind of prompted another issue – that the Town of Winamac officers, when they took out there, the bill would come to the county, and the county was paying it.”
Sheriff Jeff Richwine pointed out the problem to Winamac officials, which Tankersley believes led to the town council’s decision to stop paying the county for 911 dispatch.
