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 single entry point process before application for admission is made to the hospital. The person's county of legal settlement shall be determined through the single entry point process and if the admission is approved through the single entry point process, 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 administrator. The costs of the hospitalization shall be paid by the county of legal settlement to the department of human services and credited to the general fund of the state, providing the mental health hospital rendering the services has certified to the county auditor of the county of legal settlement the amount chargeable to the county and has sent a duplicate statement of the charges to the department of human services. A county shall not be billed for the cost of a patient unless the patient's admission is authorized through the single entry point process. The mental health institute and the county shall work together to locate appropriate alternative placements and services, and to educate patients and family members of patients regarding such alternatives.
All the provisions of chapter 230 shall apply to such voluntary patients so far as is applicable.
The provisions of this section and of section 229.41 shall apply to all voluntary inpatients or outpatients either away from or at the institution receiving mental health services.
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
Referred to in § 225C.16, 229.2, 331.381, 331.502
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