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 central point of coordination process* before application for admission is made to the hospital. The person’s county of residence shall be determined through the central point of coordination process* and if the admission is approved through the central point of coordination 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 residence 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 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 central point of coordination 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.
  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

*Section 331.440, implementing the central point of coordination process, is repealed; corrective legislation is pending
2012 amendment to this section takes effect July 1, 2013; 2012 Acts, ch 1120, §130
Section amended