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REFERENCE TITLE: victim compensation fund; medical bills |
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State of Arizona Senate Fifty-second Legislature First Regular Session 2015
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SB 1294 |
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Introduced by Senator Smith
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AN ACT
amending section 41‑2407, Arizona Revised Statutes; relating to the victim compensation and assistance fund.
(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:
Section 1. Section 41-2407, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:
41-2407. Victim compensation and assistance fund; subrogation; full satisfaction of payment
A. The victim compensation and assistance fund is established. The Arizona criminal justice commission shall administer the fund. The victim compensation and assistance fund shall consist of victim compensation monies collected pursuant to section 12‑116.01 and distributed pursuant to section 41‑2401, subsection D, paragraph 14, victim assistance monies collected pursuant to section 31‑411, subsection E, section 31‑418 and section 31‑467.06, unclaimed victim restitution monies pursuant to section 44‑313 and monies available from any other source.
B. Subject to legislative appropriation, the Arizona criminal justice commission shall allocate monies in the victim compensation and assistance fund to public and private agencies for the purpose of establishing, maintaining and supporting programs that compensate and assist victims of crime. Not more than fifty per cent percent of the monies distributed statewide for victim assistance shall be allocated to the governmental agencies or public officers specified in section 41‑2404, subsection A and to the governmental agencies or public officers specified in section 41‑2404, subsection B.
C. The allocation of monies pursuant to this section shall be made in accordance with rules adopted by the Arizona criminal justice commission pursuant to section 41‑2405, subsection A, paragraph 8. The rules shall provide that persons who suffered personal injury or death that resulted from an attempt to aid a public safety officer in the prevention of a crime or the apprehension of a criminal may be eligible for compensation.
D. This state and the applicable operational unit or qualified program, as defined in the victim compensation program rules, are subrogated to the rights of an individual who receives monies from the victim compensation and assistance fund to recover or receive monies or benefits from a third party, to the extent of the amount of monies the individual receives from the fund.
E. A medical provider that accepts the full allowable payment from a victim compensation program that is funded pursuant to this section for health and medical services that are provided to a victim or claimant is deemed to have agreed to accept those payments as payment in full for those health and medical services. Except as provided in subsection F of this section, a medical provider that receives payment from a victim compensation program that is funded pursuant to this section for health and medical services provided to a victim or claimant may not attempt to collect any further payment from the victim or claimant for those same services.
F. If, due to a lack of available funds or some other cause, a victim compensation program that is funded pursuant to this section is unable to pay the full allowable payment to a medical provider for health and medical services provided to a victim or claimant, the medical provider may collect the unpaid balance for those services from the victim or claimant, except that the total amount collected by the provider from a victim compensation program and the victim or claimant may not exceed the full allowable payment the provider would have received from a victim compensation program.