1. Except as required to satisfy laws pertaining to the termination of patient care without adequate notice or without making other arrangements for the continued care of the patient, fee-for-service MO HealthNet health care providers shall be permitted to prohibit a MO HealthNet participant who misses an appointment or fails to provide notice of cancellation within twenty-four hours prior to the appointment from scheduling another appointment until the participant has paid a missed appointment fee to the health care provider as follows:

(1) For the first missed appointment in a three-year period, no fee shall be charged but such missed appointment shall be documented in the patient’s record;

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(2) For the second missed appointment in a three-year period, a fee of no greater than five dollars;

(3) For the third missed appointment in a three-year period, a fee of no greater than ten dollars; and

(4) For the fourth and each subsequent missed appointment in a three-year period, a fee of no greater than twenty dollars.

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Such health care providers shall waive the missed appointment fee in cases of inclement weather.

2. Nothing in this section shall be construed in any way to limit MO HealthNet managed care organizations from developing and implementing any incentive program to encourage adherence to scheduled appointments.

3. The health care provider shall not charge to, nor shall the MO Healthnet participant be reimbursed by, the MO HealthNet program for the missed appointment fee.

4. The department of social services shall submit such state plan amendments and waivers to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services of the federal Department of Health and Human Services as the department determines are necessary to implement the provisions of this section.