§22-21-7. Itemized statement of services rendered to be furnished patient upon request; provisions of statement; itemization of services and expenses; action by Attorney General; payment of claims by insurance companies.

(a) For the purposes of this section, the term "hospital" shall mean any hospital in which human patients are given medical care. It shall include all emergency rooms or outpatient facilities connected thereto.

(b) Within 10 days following discharge or release from confinement in a hospital or nursing home, or within 10 days after the earliest date at which the expense from the confinement or service may be determined, which in the case of long-term confinement may be the monthly charge, the hospital or nursing home providing the service shall submit to the patient, or to his survivor or legal guardian as may be appropriate, upon written request, an itemized statement detailing in language comprehensible to an ordinary layman the specific nature of charges or expenses incurred by the patient, which in the initial billing shall contain a statement of specific services received and expenses incurred for each such item of service, enumerating in detail the constituent components of the services received within each department of the hospital or nursing home and including unit-price data on rates charged by the hospital or nursing home. This statement shall not include charges of hospital based or nursing home based physicians if billed separately.

(c) In any billing for hospital or nursing home services subsequent to the initial billing for such services, whether it is a restatement of the initial bill or a bill of additional charges, the patient or his survivor or legal guardian may elect, upon written request, to receive a copy of the detailed statement of specific services received and expenses incurred for each such item of service as provided in subsection (b) of this section. The hospital or nursing home shall have 10 days from the receipt of the request to provide said statement.

(d) All provisions of subsection (b) of this section shall be followed if a written request is made within 30 days of discharge from the facility. If such request is made after 30 days of discharge then the 10 day period will not be in effect. Instead the hospital or nursing home providing the service shall have 30 days to meet the request. All requests shall be made within one year of discharge.

(e) The Attorney General shall maintain an action in the name of the state for an injunction to restrain any person, firm, association or corporation from operating, conducting or managing a hospital in violation of the provisions of this section if and when violations are brought to his attention by an individual after a due process of law procedure has been followed.

(f) The provisions of this section shall not apply in cases where regulations by the federal or the state government so stipulate.

(g) Hospitals can print information on the statement as to the procedure that must be followed by insurance companies relating to the payment of claims made by persons in possession of the statement referred to in subsection (b) of this section. An addendum which prohibits insurance companies from paying to the patient any amounts due the hospital by the patient is acceptable. Any insurance company making a payment to the patient without positive validation from appropriate hospital officials shall be held liable for such payment to the hospital and shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.

(Acts 1981, No. 81-795, p. 1397.)