The purpose of the Indigent Hospital and County Health Care Act is:

A. to recognize that each individual county of this state is the responsible agency for ambulance transportation, hospital care or the provision of health care to indigent patients domiciled in that county, as determined by resolution of the board of county commissioners, in addition to providing support for the state's medicaid program;

B. to recognize that the counties of the state are responsible for supporting indigent patients by providing local revenues to match federal funds for the state medicaid program pursuant to Section 7-20E-9 NMSA 1978 and the transfer of funds to the county-supported medicaid fund pursuant to the Statewide Health Care Act [27-10-1 to 27-10-4 NMSA 1978]; and

C. to recognize that the counties of the state can improve the provision of health care to indigent patients by providing local revenues for countywide or multicounty health planning.

History: 1953 Comp., § 13-2-13, enacted by Laws 1965, ch. 234, § 2; 1971, ch. 72, § 1; 1983, ch. 234, § 1; 1987, ch. 88, § 1; 1993, ch. 321, § 2; 1997, ch. 51, § 1; 2014, ch. 79, § 4.

The 2014 amendment, effective March 12, 2014, clarified the obligations of counties to support the state's medicaid program; in Subsection A, after "ambulance transportation", deleted "or the", after "domiciled in that county", deleted "for at least three months or for such period of time, not in excess of three months", after "board of county commissioners", deleted language which provided that a county had a responsibility to discharge its responsibilities by payment to providers, hospitals and health care providers for the care and treatment of indigent patients, and added "in addition to providing for the state's medicaid program"; and in Subsection B, after "state medicaid program", deleted "including the provision of matching funds for payments to sole community provider hospitals" and added "pursuant to Section 7-20E-9 NMSA 1978".

The 1997 amendment, effective June 20, 1997, rewrote Subsection A and added Subsection C.

The 1993 amendment, effective July 1, 1993, substituted "and County Health Care" for "Claims" in the section heading and near the beginning of the section; added the Subsection A designation in the existing provisions and added Subsection B, making a related grammatical change; and in Subsection A, substituted "or the provision of the health care to" for "of the" near the beginning and "hospitals or health care providers for actual cost incurred for" for "or hospitals for actual cost incurred as the result of ambulance transportation provided for or" near the end.

Insurance for indigent patients. — A county lacks the authority, either expressly or by necessary implication, under the Indigent Hospital and County Health Care Act to purchase individual health insurance policies for indigent patients using revenues from the county indigent hospital claims fund [county health care assistance fund] or to enroll indigent patients in the state coverage insurance program and pay premiums and co-payment amounts from the county indigent fund. 2007 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 07-05.

"Hospital care". — The term "hospital care", as referred to in Subsection A, encompasses mental health treatment provided by a county hospital to indigent residents of the county. 1988 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 88-64.

Individuals committed under statutory involuntary commitment. — Individuals committed to private or county-operated facilities under statutory involuntary commitment procedures are responsible for their hospital expenses, and eligible hospitals treating indigent patients may look to the applicable county for reimbursement under the Indigent Hospital Claims Act. 1989 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 89-35.

Am. Jur. 2d, A.L.R. and C.J.S. references. — 79 Am. Jur. 2d Welfare Laws §§ 38 to 41.