Ohio Code 5162.20 – Cost-sharing requirements
(A) The department of medicaid shall institute cost-sharing requirements for the medicaid program. The department shall not institute cost-sharing requirements in a manner that does either of the following:
Terms Used In Ohio Code 5162.20
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
- state: means the state of Ohio. See Ohio Code 1.59
- State agency: means every organized body, office, or agency, other than the department of medicaid, established by the laws of the state for the exercise of any function of state government. See Ohio Code 5162.01
(1) Disproportionately impacts the ability of medicaid recipients with chronic illnesses to obtain medically necessary medicaid services;
(2) Violates section 5164.09 or 5164.10 of the Revised Code.
(B)(1) No provider shall refuse to provide a service to a medicaid recipient who is unable to pay a required copayment for the service.
(2) Division (B)(1) of this section shall not be considered to do either of the following with regard to a medicaid recipient who is unable to pay a required copayment:
(a) Relieve the medicaid recipient from the obligation to pay a copayment;
(b) Prohibit the provider from attempting to collect an unpaid copayment.
(C) Except as provided in division (F) of this section, no provider shall waive a medicaid recipient’s obligation to pay the provider a copayment.
(D) No provider or drug manufacturer, including the manufacturer’s representative, employee, independent contractor, or agent, shall pay any copayment on behalf of a medicaid recipient.
(E) If it is the routine business practice of a provider to refuse service to any individual who owes an outstanding debt to the provider, the provider may consider an unpaid copayment imposed by the cost-sharing requirements as an outstanding debt and may refuse service to a medicaid recipient who owes the provider an outstanding debt. If the provider intends to refuse service to a medicaid recipient who owes the provider an outstanding debt, the provider shall notify the recipient of the provider’s intent to refuse service.
(F) In the case of a provider that is a hospital, the cost-sharing program shall permit the hospital to take action to collect a copayment by providing, at the time services are rendered to a medicaid recipient, notice that a copayment may be owed. If the hospital provides the notice and chooses not to take any further action to pursue collection of the copayment, the prohibition against waiving copayments specified in division (C) of this section does not apply.
(G) The department of medicaid may collaborate with a state agency that is administering, pursuant to a contract entered into under section 5162.35 of the Revised Code, one or more components, or one or more aspects of a component, of the medicaid program as necessary for the state agency to apply the cost-sharing requirements to the components or aspects of a component that the state agency administers.