Mills County Agrees To Pay For Medical Bills Of Inmates That Were Housed In Montgomery County Jail

Under a tentative agreement, Mills County will pay Montgomery County Memorial Hospital (MCMH) 75 percent of the total cost for unpaid medical bills for female inmates from Mills County who were taken and treated at the hospital in 2013 while being housed in the Montgomery County Jail in Red Oak.

Mills County Attorney Tricia McSorley said the bills totaled $17,246.25, but the county will get the standard 25-percent discount the hospital offers to other southwest Iowa counties that house inmates in the Montgomery County Jail.

Until the opening of its new jail and law enforcement center in October 2014, Mills County didn’t have a facility of its own to house women on a long-term basis, so female inmates were transported to the Montgomery County facility. Montgomery County Sheriff Joe Sampson said he was following protocol when he sought  approval from Mills County Sheriff Eugene Goos to take a female inmate to MCMH for medical care.

Last month, the Mills County Board of Supervisors passed a motion to accept a settlement that will have the Mills County Sheriff’s Office paying $12,934.69 (75 percent of total billed and court costs) to the hospital.

The settlement was more than a year in the making. When the bills first surfaced in the fall of 2013, former Mills County Attorney Eric Hansen said responsibility of payment rested in the hands of the persons receiving medical care.

“I sent (MCMH) our standard letter that says while the Iowa code says we have to provide medical care, the bill belongs to the prisoner,” Hansen said in December 2013. “We’re not on the hook for it.”

McSorley, who replaced Hansen when he resigned from the county attorney post last spring, said although the two sides aren’t in full agreement on the facts of the case, it’s her opinion that Mills County is indeed on the hook for the bills.

“It’s my opinion that it’s our responsibility for the medical costs of our county inmates while they are at other facilities,” McSorley said.

McSorley said once payment is received by the hospital and the agreement is signed, both sides will be released of future liability in the matter. Although it’s unlikely Mills County would need to house inmates at the Red Oak facility in the future, McSorley said the agreement states Mills County would pay 75 percent of its inmates’ unpaid medical bills.