[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 704 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 704

To amend title 18, United States Code, to combat the overutilization of 
  prison health care services and control rising prisoner health care 
                                 costs.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 24, 1999

Mr. Kyl (for himself, Mr. Johnson, Mr. Hatch, Mr. Thurmond, Mr. Inouye, 
Mr. Grassley, Mr. Dorgan, Mr. Sessions, Mr. Cleland, Mr. Ashcroft, Mrs. 
Lincoln, and Mr. Abraham) introduced the following bill; which was read 
          twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend title 18, United States Code, to combat the overutilization of 
  prison health care services and control rising prisoner health care 
                                 costs.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Federal Prisoner Health Care 
Copayment Act of 1999''.

SEC. 2. HEALTH CARE FEES FOR PRISONERS IN FEDERAL INSTITUTIONS.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 303 of title 18, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 4048. Fees for health care services for prisoners
    ``(a) Definitions.--In this section--
            ``(1) the term `account' means the trust fund account (or 
        institutional equivalent) of a prisoner;
            ``(2) the term `Director' means the Director of the Bureau 
        of Prisons;
            ``(3) the term `health care provider' means any person who 
        is--
                    ``(A) authorized by the Director to provide health 
                care services; and
                    ``(B) operating within the scope of such 
                authorization;
            ``(4) the term `health care visit' means a visit, as 
        determined by the Director, by a prisoner to an institutional 
        or noninstitutional health care provider; and
            ``(5) the term `prisoner' means--
                    ``(A) any individual who is incarcerated in an 
                institution under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of 
                Prisons; or
                    ``(B) any other individual, as designated by the 
                Director, who has been charged with or convicted of an 
                offense against the United States.
    ``(b) Fees for Health Care Services.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Director, in accordance with this 
        section and with such regulations as the Director shall 
        promulgate to carry out this section, may assess and collect a 
        fee for health care services provided in connection with each 
        health care visit requested by a prisoner.
            ``(2) Exclusion.--The Director may not assess or collect a 
        fee under this section for preventative health care services, 
        as determined by the Director.
    ``(c) Persons Subject to Fee.--Each fee assessed under this section 
shall be collected by the Director from the account of--
            ``(1) the prisoner receiving health care services in 
        connection with a health care visit described in subsection 
        (b)(1); or
            ``(2) in the case of health care services provided in 
        connection with a health care visit described in subsection 
        (b)(1) that results from an injury inflicted on a prisoner by 
        another prisoner, the prisoner who inflicted the injury, as 
        determined by the Director.
    ``(d) Amount of Fee.--Any fee assessed and collected under this 
section shall be in an amount of not less than $2.
    ``(e) No Consent Required.--Notwithstanding any other provision of 
law, the consent of a prisoner shall not be required for the collection 
of a fee from the account of the prisoner under this section.
    ``(f) No Refusal of Treatment for Financial Reasons.--Nothing in 
this section may be construed to permit any refusal of treatment to a 
prisoner on the basis that--
            ``(1) the account of the prisoner is insolvent; or
            ``(2) the prisoner is otherwise unable to pay a fee 
        assessed under this section.
    ``(g) Use of Amounts.--
            ``(1) Restitution to specific victims.--Amounts collected 
        by the Director under this section from a prisoner subject to 
        an order of restitution issued pursuant to section 3663 or 
        3663A shall be paid to victims in accordance with the order of 
        restitution.
            ``(2) Allocation of other amounts.--Of amounts collected by 
        the Director under this section from prisoners not subject to 
        an order of restitution issued pursuant to section 3663 or 
        3663A--
                    ``(A) 75 percent shall be deposited in the Crime 
                Victims Fund established under section 1402 of the 
                Victims of Crime Act of 1984 (42 U.S.C. 10601); and
                    ``(B) 25 percent shall be available to the Attorney 
                General for administrative expenses incurred in 
                carrying out this section.
    ``(h) Reports to Congress.--Not later than 2 years after the date 
of enactment of the Federal Prisoner Copayment Act of 1999, and 
annually thereafter, the Director shall submit to Congress a report, 
which shall include--
            ``(1) a description of the amounts collected under this 
        section during the preceding 24-month period; and
            ``(2) an analysis of the effects of the implementation of 
        this section, if any, on the nature and extent of heath care 
        visits by prisoners.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The analysis for chapter 303 of title 18, 
United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:

``4048. Fees for health care services for prisoners.''.

SEC. 3. HEALTH CARE FEES FOR FEDERAL PRISONERS IN NON-FEDERAL 
              INSTITUTIONS.

    Section 4013 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding 
at the end the following:
    ``(c) Health Care Fees for Federal Prisoners in Non-Federal 
Institutions.--Notwithstanding amounts paid under subsection (a)(3), a 
State or local government may assess and collect a reasonable fee from 
the trust fund account (or institutional equivalent) of a Federal 
prisoner for health care services, if--
            ``(1) the prisoner--
                    ``(A) is confined in a non-Federal institution 
                pursuant to an agreement between the Federal Government 
                and the State or local government; and
                    ``(B) is not indigent;
            ``(2) the fee--
                    ``(A) is authorized under State law; and
                    ``(B) does not exceed the amount collected from 
                State or local prisoners for the same services; and
            ``(3) the services--
                    ``(A) are provided within or outside of the 
                institution by a person who is licensed or certified 
                under State law to provide health care services and who 
                is operating within the scope of such license;
                    ``(B) are provided at the request of the prisoner; 
                and
                    ``(C) are not preventative health care services.''.
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