Prisoners in county jails in need of hospital care and eligible for financial assistance will be enrolled in the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System possibly saving the county thousands of dollars a year.

The Yavapai County Board of Supervisors, resolved into the Board of Directors of the Yavapai County Jail District, approved an intergovernmental agreement with a state health care program at its meeting Monday, Nov. 17, in Cottonwood.

By Trista Steers

Larson Newspapers

Prisoners in county jails in need of hospital care and eligible for financial assistance will be enrolled in the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System possibly saving the county thousands of dollars a year.

The Yavapai County Board of Supervisors, resolved into the Board of Directors of the Yavapai County Jail District, approved an intergovernmental agreement with a state health care program at its meeting Monday, Nov. 17, in Cottonwood.

According to numbers prepared by county staff, if the agreement had been in place since 2005, the county could have saved $121,606 over three years on a $434,305 health care bill.

The county is looking for ways to save money in today’s dismal economic climate and particularly in the jail district after Yavapai County voters rejected a tax increase for jail expenses earlier this month.

“It’s those little things that are going to help us pull through,” Yavapai County District 3 Supervisor Chip Davis said of the cost savings.

Shifting the burden of some inmate health care costs onto the state helps the county’s budget numbers, and will not put more strain on an already suffering state system, according to AHCCCS Public Information Officer Rainey Holloway.

According to AHCCCS monthly financial statements on the state of Arizona’s Web site, the system projects a Total Fund budget shortfall of $209.8 million in fiscal year 2009-10 in its September 2008 report after reporting a surplus projection of $104.9 million in June 2008. The budget shortfall is based on only the first quarter of the current fiscal year.

Changes in service due to budget cuts reported include suspension of medical coverage for approximately 250 people and loss of adult dental benefits.

However, Holloway said using AHCCCS for inmates won’t cost the state any more money. The county will pay the state matching funds for eligibility determination and claims processing. In turn, AHCCCS uses matching federal funds to pay for services and administrative costs.

The county predicts participation in the agreement will cost approximately $11,420 and has trained four employees to process eligibility forms.

Other jails and prisons in the state have similar agreements with AHCCCS, according to Holloway.

“If there are any opportunities to draw federal dollars into our state by utilizing agency to agency partnerships we will try to do so,” Holloway said.

For the county, federal dollars mean more money for other areas of the county budget.

Inmates admitted to the hospital for inpatient care for more than 24 hours and eligible financially for the service would be required to apply for AHCCCS to cover medical bills.

Inmates are only covered by AHCCCS during those stays and not considered full beneficiaries, Holloway said.

Yavapai County Detention Cmdr. John Russell told the board the jail district would have saved $12,000 to $14,000 since June with this agreement. The county currently has an agreement with Verde Valley Medical Center and Flagstaff Medical Center for a 5 percent discount on inpatient services, but AHCCCS has the potential to save the county even more money.

In 2007, five inmates were admitted to the hospital for 37 days total costing the county $302,028. If eligible inmates had been covered by AHCCCS, the county would have saved $84,568.

The county would have saved $28,429 in 2006. It paid $101,530 in health care costs for four inmates to stay a total of 13 days in the hospital.

In 2005, the county paid $30,747 in medical costs for two patients to spend two days each in the hospital, according to county calculations. The county would have saved $8,609 with the agreement.

Trista Steers can be reached at 282-7795, ext. 124, or e-mail tsteers@larsonnewspapers.com