A man charged thousands of dollars for emergency and necessary medical care he received while detained in the Kittitas County Corrections Center (KCCC) filed a lawsuit today in Yakima County Superior Court against Kittitas County and county officials. Robert Lambert, represented by Columbia Legal Services and the Public Defender Association, alleges that the County violated Washington law when the jail charged him for the cost of emergency and necessary health care he received at Kittitas Valley Hospital while he was detained at KCCC. The jail did this despite the fact that Mr. Lambert was and remains indigent, with no income, no savings, and no other means to pay thousands of dollars in medical bills – based on boilerplate forms that Mr. Lambert was required to sign upon booking that purport to agree to pay all medical expenses incurred while in jail custody. (Español)
While in the jail awaiting trial, Mr. Lambert developed a serious and painful infection in his leg that required him to be transported to Kittitas Valley Hospital, where over a series of days he received intensive antibiotic treatment. After he had recovered, KCCC added charges to his jail account that ultimately totaled over $12,000. Mr. Lambert filed several grievances challenging the alleged debt. KCCC’s response? “You signed [a] notice of indebtedness when you were booked making you aware you would be responsible for health services rendered while in custody. You could have also refused the medical attention….”
“I was surprised and disappointed to learn that I allegedly owed thousands of dollars to treat an infection that I contracted while I was in jail,” said Mr. Lambert. “Like many other people in jail, I didn’t have a job, I didn’t have savings, I didn’t have any way to even make small payments on that amount they said I owed. And my leg was infected, and getting worse, and I knew it wasn’t going to get better on its own. Putting people in a situation where they have to choose between being sick and getting sicker but not asking for medical care because they can’t pay for it, or getting care but having to pay thousands of dollars that they don’t have, isn’t fair.”
Washington’s jails are constitutionally required to provide emergency and necessary medical care for people incarcerated in jails. When it comes to paying for that care, Washington law, RCW 70.48.130, outlines a system of reimbursement for jails to recover the costs of medical care provided by outside health care providers – in Mr. Lambert’s case, Kittitas Valley Hospital. As part of the initial booking process, jails are required to gather information about the person’s ability to pay for medical care, including whether the person has insurance. But the law does not allow jails to hold indigent people responsible for these medical costs when they have no ability to pay.
In this case, during the initial booking process, KCCC required Mr. Lambert to sign a take-it-or-leave it form – a “Notice of Indebtedness” – that the jail relied on to hold him personally responsible for all health care costs he incurred while detained in jail. The form stated that if the jail charged him fees for health care and he didn’t pay, the account would be sent to a collection agency.
“The purpose of our criminal justice system should not be to put people in a worse financial situation than they are when they enter a jail,” said Kim Gunning, one of the Columbia Legal Services attorneys representing Mr. Lambert. “If Mr. Lambert had not been in the jail when his leg became infected, he most likely would have qualified for charity care and/or Apple Health when he went to the hospital for treatment, given his financial situation,” she added.
“Washington State has a strong public policy of ensuring that inability to pay is not a barrier to accessing necessary medical care,” said Prachi Dave, an attorney at Public Defender Association, which is co-counseling with Columbia Legal Services in this case. “When indigent people in our county jails are charged thousands of dollars for medical care, that public policy is undermined, and there is the very real potential of discouraging sick people from seeking the care they need.”
Mr. Lambert and his attorneys hope that this lawsuit will send a message to other jails that holding indigent people responsible for the cost of medical care they receive while confined in county jails is not only unfair, it’s against the law.
Media Contacts
Kim Gunning, CLS Attorney
206-332-7144, kim.gunning@columbialegal.org
Prachi Dave, PDA Attorney
206-392-0050 x701, prachi.dave@defender.org
Charlie McAteer, CLS Communications Director
917-696-1321, charlie.mcateer@columbialegal.org
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