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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - 11-19-2002-8fORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT Meeting Date: November 19, 2002 Action Agenda Item No. ~~ SUBJECT• Additional Fees for Personal Health Services at Health Department DEPARTMENT: Health PUBLIC HEARING: (YIN) No ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT: Rosemary Summers, ext 2411 TELEPHONE NUMBERS: Hillsborough 732-8181 Chapel Hill 968-4501 Durham 688-7331 Mebane 336-227-2031 PURPOSE: To consider approving additional fees for rendering personal health services at the health department. BACKGROUND: The Board of Health is recommending the addition of several fees to the Personal Health Services fees authorized to be charged by the Health Department. There have been several changes in interuterine devices (IUD) over the past several years, with the technology continuing to improve. The department has had several requests over the past few months from patients desiring a certain type of IUD called a Mirena IUD. These devices are effective for at least five years. These fees are eligible for Medicaid reimbursement. The staff has also identified a foundation that will provide these IUDs free to low-income clients who are not eligible for Medicaid and do not have insurance that will reimburse for this. The usual sliding fee scale would be applied to those not qualifying for other subsidy and in some cases would mean that service would be available to clients free of charge. The following fees are recommended for this service: • Mirena IUD (device itself) $420 • Insertion fee $ 85 The second fee that the Board of Health is recommending is a new charge for a urinary lab test called a Uricult. This test is currently conducted by UNC Labs for the Health Department for all prenatal patients and as such is part of the "package" the Department charges for prenatal services. This particular test is also useful for diagnosing urinary tract infections, especially when a woman comes in for a family planning or a child comes in with an apparent urinary tract infection. The Department is proposing that this test be conducted in-house by County laboratory personnel, and the positive uricults would continue to be sent to UNC Labs for additional testing as needed. The addition of this fee in-house would enable the Department to recover the charges for this test for these clients. The sliding scale would be applied in all qualifying cases. The following fee is recommended for this laboratory test: • Uricult $15 FINANCIAL IMPACT: The fees established would enable the Department to recover its cost in providing these services to patients. The financial impact is revenue neutral as fees are based on the costs of providing these services. If the Board chooses not to recommend these fees, then the services will not be offered by the Department. RECOMMENDATION(S): The Manager recommends that the Board approve the recommended fees for the Mirena IUD and the Uricult laboratory test to be effective December 1, 2002.