GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
1993 SESSION

CHAPTER 510
SENATE BILL 1021

AN ACT TO PROVIDE THAT THE COST OF EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES FOR AN INMATE IN A LOCAL CONFINEMENT FACILITY SHALL BE PAID BY A THIRD-PARTY INSURER IF THE INMATE HAS SUCH INSURANCE AND TO CLARIFY THAT THE COUNTY MAY RECOVER THE COST OF EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES FROM THE INMATE.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

Section 1.  G.S. 153A-224(b) reads as rewritten:
"(b)	In a medical emergency, the custodial personnel shall secure emergency medical care from a licensed physician according to the unit's plan for medical care.  If a physician designated in the plan is not available, the personnel shall secure medical services from any licensed physician who is available.  The unit operating the facility shall pay the cost of emergency medical services unless the inmate has third-party insurance, in which case the third-party insurer shall be the initial payor and the medical provider shall bill the third-party insurer.  The county shall only be liable for costs not reimbursed by the third-party insurer, in which event the county may recover from the inmate the cost of the non-reimbursed medical services."
Sec. 2.  This act is effective upon ratification.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 24th day of July, 1993.

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Dennis A. Wicker
President of the Senate

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Daniel Blue, Jr.
Speaker of the House of Representatives