An Act to Allow the Department of Corrections to Increase Health
Maine Legislature, Session 132, LD 0018
Sponsors: MOORE
Amends: 34-A MRSA §3031

Legislative Document
No. 18
S.P. 30
In Senate, January 8, 2025
An Act to Allow the Department of Corrections to Increase Health 
Care Fees and Use the Proceeds from Those Fees to Offset the Costs 
of Client Medical Care Support Workers
Submitted by the Department of Corrections pursuant to Joint Rule 204.
Received by the Secretary of the Senate on January 6, 2025.  Referred to the Committee on 
Criminal Justice and Public Safety pursuant to Joint Rule 308.2 and ordered printed.
DAREK M. GRANT
Secretary of the Senate
Presented by Senator MOORE of Washington.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  34-A MRSA §3031, sub-§2, as amended by PL 2021, c. 359, §§2 and 3, is 
further amended to read:
2.  Medical care.  Adequate professional medical care and adequate professional 
mental health care, which do not include medical treatment or mental health treatment 
requested by the client that the facility's treating physician or treating psychiatrist or 
psychologist determines unnecessary.  The commissioner may establish reasonable 
medical and dental fees not to exceed $5 $25 for the medical and dental services that are 
provided pursuant to this subsection and a reasonable fee not to exceed $5 $25 for 
prescriptions, medication or prosthetic devices.  Except as provided in paragraph A, every 
client may be charged a medical or dental services fee for each medical or dental visit, 
prescription, medication or prosthetic device.  The facility shall collect the fee.  All money 
received by the department under this subsection is retained by the facility to offset the cost 
of paying client workers who support medical care and related services for other clients, 
including, but not limited to, client workers who assist other clients receiving hospice 
services and client workers who assist clients with disabilities with activities of daily living.  
After first being used to defray this cost, money is retained by the facility to offset the cost 
of medical and dental services, prescriptions, medication and prosthetic devices.
A.  A client is exempt from payment of medical and dental services fees and fees for 
prescriptions, medication or prosthetic devices when the client:
(1)  Receives treatment initiated by facility staff;
(2)  Is a juvenile;
(3)  Is pregnant;
(4)  Is a person with a serious mental illness or developmental disability.  For the 
purposes of this paragraph, "a person with a serious mental illness or 
developmental disability" means a client who, as a result of a mental disorder or 
developmental disability, exhibits emotional or behavioral functioning that is so 
impaired as to interfere substantially with the client's capacity to remain in the 
general prison population without supportive treatment or services of a long-term 
or indefinite duration, as determined by the facility's psychiatrist or psychologist.  
The exemption under this paragraph applies only to supportive treatment or 
services being provided to improve the client's emotional or behavioral 
functioning;
(5)  Is an inpatient at a state-funded mental health facility or is a resident at a state-
funded facility for individuals with adult developmental disabilities;
(6)  Is undergoing follow-up treatment;
(7)  Receives emergency treatment as determined by the facility's medical or dental 
staff; or
(8)  Has less than $15 in the client's facility account and did not receive additional 
money from any source for 6 months following the medical or dental service or 
provision of the prescription, medication or prosthetic device.
A-1.  A client who is indigent is exempt from fees charged for requesting or obtaining 
records of medical, dental or mental health care provided to the client pursuant to this 
subsection.
B.  Notwithstanding paragraphs A and A‑1, the State may bring a civil action in a court 
of competent jurisdiction to recover the cost of medical, dental, psychiatric or 
psychological expenses incurred by the State on behalf of a client incarcerated in a 
facility. The following assets are not subject to judgment under this paragraph:
(1)  Joint ownership, if any, that the client may have in real property;
(2)  Joint ownership, if any, that the client may have in any assets, earnings or other 
sources of income; and
(3)  The income, assets, earnings or other property, both real and personal, owned 
by the client's spouse or family;
SUMMARY
This bill increases the amount the Commissioner of Corrections may charge clients of 
correctional and detention facilities for medical and dental fees from $5 to $25 and requires 
the proceeds from those fees to be used as a first priority to pay client workers who support 
medical care and related services for other clients.