Judge: County Was Liable For Medical Bill

A district judge correctly ruled that Payette County was responsible for the $180,000 hospital bill for the treatment of an indigent man badly burned in a fire, the Idaho Court of Appeals says.

But Payette County taxpayers won’t have to fork up the money.

After years of political deadlock, a state fund designed to cover such cases finally got some money, and University of Utah Hospital, Salt Lake City, was paid for its treatment of Steve Cross.

Since Cross had no money, Payette County conceded responsibility for his bills. But the county paid only the first $10,000. Idaho’s Catastrophic Health Care Cost Program was supposed to pay the rest, but there was no money in the fund at the time.

When Gov. Phil Batt took office last year, the political deadlock was broken and the “cat” fund was financed. The hospital later got its balance, $173,954.