An Act To Create Equity in Hospital Charges

Sec. 1. 22 MRSA §1712-A  is enacted to read:

§ 1712-A.  Limitation on billing

Beginning January 1, 2008, a hospital licensed under chapter 405 shall apply an allowance or discount against a fee for inpatient or outpatient services provided by the hospital to a self-pay patient in an amount equal to an allowance or discount the hospital applies to fees for similar services under MaineCare or Medicare, whichever is less. For purposes of this section, "self-pay patient" means a patient who does not have 3rd-party insurance coverage and whose family income is less than 400% of the federal poverty guidelines published by the United States Department of Health and Human Services.

summary

This bill requires a hospital to apply the same allowance or discount against the medical expenses of a self-pay patient as the hospital would apply to MaineCare or Medicare, whichever is less. A self-pay patient is a patient who does not have insurance coverage and whose family income is less than 400% of the federal poverty guidelines.