Law enforcement skipping bills for medical care, says Nebraska Hospital Association
One facility in Lincoln says this costs as much as $3 million a year. Its lobbyist says you're paying one way or another.
One facility in Lincoln says this costs as much as $3 million a year. Its lobbyist says you're paying one way or another.
One facility in Lincoln says this costs as much as $3 million a year. Its lobbyist says you're paying one way or another.
Nebraska hospitals want you to know about a problem: Law enforcement agencies from the state's Panhandle to the Missouri River are skipping out on medical bills.
Here's a scenario playing out over and over again, according to the Nebraska Hospital Association.
"Law enforcement takes someone into custody who needs medical attention, so they'll be brought to our facilities," said Andy Hale, one of the lobbyists for the state's hospital group. "And then they're released."
If a law enforcement agency releases a person from custody, technically the person is no longer under arrest. Because they're not in custody, whatever bills they rack up for their medical needs aren't the responsibility of the arresting agency. Sometimes, law enforcement agencies even ask the hospitals to give them a call when the suspect is all better.
The hospital association estimates this is costing its members millions of dollars a year. It's nearly impossible to find a person, brought by law enforcement officers to a hospital, who has health insurance, according to the group. At Bryan Health in Lincoln, doctors think the tab stands at $2 million to $3 million.
"And that's each year," explains Hale.
Hale argues it's not just a question of who's going to pay the bill. He says the situation creates a real threat to public safety.
"It's on our hospital staff to provide that security and our smaller hospitals just aren't equipped for that," Hale said.
This issue has drawn the attention of Sen. Mark Kolterman.
"This is really an overarching question," the Seward lawmaker said. "Are you in custody? Because if you're in custody, then the bill's paid for by the county or the state."
He proposed legislation on behalf of the hospital association that tackles this issue.
LB 216 would "prohibit law enforcement releasing a person from custody to avoid the cost of medical services."
The problem seems remarkably similar to the story of Luke LeFever revealed by KETV NewsWatch 7 Investigates. Prosecutors either dropped charges against him -- or never filed them -- after a dangerous June 2018 chase that ended with deputies shooting the 30-year-old. The cost of his care after a leg amputation was too much.
The Nebraska State Patrol guard on LeFever dropped off on June 15, and at some point after that, he left the hospital against medical advice.
Six months later, the Howard County Sheriff said LeFever shot at deputies on New Year's Eve, led them on a chase and ended up in the hospital again.
"He's kind of the poster child for this problem," Hale said.
But the LeFever case hadn't even happened yet when the hospital association drafted the legislation.
Howard County is keeping LeFever in custody as its case against him for attempted first-degree murder continues. But commissioners there are staring at a busted budget. If state law forces law enforcement agencies to keep suspects in custody while at the hospital, won't other government agencies face similar financial distress?
Kolterman acknowledges that risk.
"All we're trying to do is bring clarity," he said. "We're trying to figure out who owes what and who pays for what."
Hale argues saddling hospitals with bills that should belong to taxpayer-funded law enforcement agencies means the hospitals have to find other ways to make up for the loss.
The burden will shift to those who can pay such as "private pay insurers," he said.