Section 229.42. Costs paid by county.

  1.  If a person wishing to make application for voluntary admission to a mental hospital established by chapter 226 is unable to pay the costs of hospitalization or those responsible for the person are unable to pay the costs, application for authorization of voluntary admission must be made through a regional administrator before application for admission is made to the hospital. The person’s county of residence shall be determined through the regional administrator and if the admission is approved through the regional administrator, the person’s admission to a mental health hospital shall be authorized as a voluntary case. The authorization shall be issued on forms provided by the department of human services’ administrator. The costs of the hospitalization shall be paid by the county of residence through the regional administrator to the department of human services and credited to the general fund of the state, provided that the mental health hospital rendering the services has certified to the county auditor of the county of residence and the regional administrator the amount chargeable to the mental health and disability services region and has sent a duplicate statement of the charges to the department of human services. A mental health and disability services region shall not be billed for the cost of a patient unless the patient’s admission is authorized through the regional administrator. The mental health institute and the regional administrator shall work together to locate appropriate alternative placements and services, and to educate patients and family members of patients regarding such alternatives.

  2.  All the provisions of chapter 230 shall apply to such voluntary patients so far as is applicable.

  3.  The provisions of this section and of section 229.41 shall apply to all voluntary inpatients or outpatients receiving mental health services either away from or at the institution.

  4.  If a county fails to pay the billed charges within forty-five days from the date the county auditor received the certification statement from the superintendent, the department of human services shall charge the delinquent county the penalty of one percent per month on and after forty-five days from the date the county received the certification statement until paid. The penalties received shall be credited to the general fund of the state.

[C50, 54, 58, 62, 66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, §229.42]

96 Acts, ch 1183, §23

; 97 Acts, ch 169, §6

; 98 Acts, ch 1218, §73

; 2001 Acts, ch 155, §22

; 2002 Acts, ch 1050, §21

; 2004 Acts, ch 1090, §33

; 2012 Acts, ch 1120, §104, 130

; 2015 Acts, ch 69, §68

; 2015 Acts, ch 138, §37, 161, 162

Subsection 1 amended