229.42  Costs paid by county — state mental health institute.
  1.  If a person wishing to make application for voluntary admission to a state mental 

health institute 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 state mental health institute. 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 state mental health institute shall be authorized as a voluntary case. The authorization shall be issued on forms provided by the department. The costs of the hospitalization shall be paid by the county of residence through the regional administrator to the department and credited to the general fund of the state, provided that the state mental health institute 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. 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 state 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 the voluntary patients to the extent 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 state mental health institute.
  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 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; 2023 Acts, ch 19, §531
Referred to in §225C.16, 229.2, 331.381, 331.502
For future repeal of this section, effective July 1, 2025, see 2024 Acts, ch 1161, §135, 137