CHAPTER 15
HB 577-FN – FINAL VERSION
06Jan2010… 2009-2376h
2010 SESSION
05/03
HOUSE BILL 577-FN
AN ACT relative to recovery of public assistance and third party liability.
SPONSORS: Rep. DiFruscia, Rock 4
COMMITTEE: Health, Human Services and Elderly Affairs
This bill permits the department of health and human services to recover medical assistance costs from the portion of settlements or judgments reasonably attributed to medical expenses. The bill also clarifies the court’s discretion to apportion the amount withheld from such awards.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
06Jan2010… 2009-2376h
09-0999
05/03
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Ten
AN ACT relative to recovery of public assistance and third party liability.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
15:1 Recovery of Assistance. Amend RSA 167:14-a, III-a and IV to read as follows:
III-a. The commissioner of health and human services may recover the full amount of medical assistance furnished by the state [if there are proceeds available for such recovery after the deduction of reasonable attorneys’ fees, litigation costs, claims by other creditors, and 10 percent of the remaining net settlement amount for the recipient of medical assistance. Any balance remaining after the state has recovered the full amount due shall be available to the recipient of medical assistance. No attorneys’ fees shall be deducted from the amount due the state from such award or settlement] from the portion of any settlement or judgment reasonably attributable to medical expenses. The commissioner may waive or reduce the amount due the state for good cause upon written request from a recipient or recipient’s attorney. The acceptance of any waiver or the payment of any reduced amount due shall create a rebuttable presumption that the apportionment was equitable in any action brought pursuant to paragraph IV.
IV. A disbursement of any award, judgment, or settlement shall not be made to a recipient without the recipient or the recipient’s attorney first providing at least 30-days written notice of any scheduled trial, alternative dispute resolution hearing, or settlement to the commissioner of health and human services that the recipient has a claim which could result in a recovery from a third party or obtaining from the commissioner a written release of any obligation owed to the state for medical assistance provided to the recipient. The commissioner shall notify the recipient or the recipient’s attorney of the amount of the commissioner’s claim within 21 days of the notice. If a dispute arises between the recipient and the commissioner of health and human services as to the settlement of any claim that arises under this section, the third party or the recipient’s attorney shall withhold from disbursement to the recipient or to any legal instrument created for the benefit of the recipient, an amount equal to the commissioner’s claim. Either party may apply to the superior court or the district court in which an action based upon the recipient’s claim could have been commenced for an order to determine an equitable apportionment between the commissioner and the recipient of the amount withheld. The court shall have broad discretion to apportion the amount withheld as justice may require. An order of apportionment has the effect of a judgment. The obligation of a third party under this paragraph to withhold all or part of a disbursement is conditional upon the receipt by the third party of written notice from the commissioner, the recipient, or the recipient’s attorney that the commissioner is asserting a claim.
15:2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect upon its passage.
Approved: May 7, 2010
Effective Date: May 7, 2010