Liability for Hospital Charges

Liability for Hospital Charges. Involuntary patients shall be not charged for any service or treatment received from the department as a result of 72-hour emergency detention for evaluation and treatment under this article. Persons committed under the involuntary commitment provisions of this article shall be charged a reasonable fee for only those services to which they consent. If the committed person lacks the capacity to consent to treatment as determined by an appropriate court order then whoever is lawfully empowered to make the decision shall be informed prior to giving consent of the cost of such treatment and shall determine whether the person has sufficient income and assets to make arrangement to pay while safeguarding such amounts as needed for his future. Treatment shall not be denied to an involuntarily committed patient solely for the reason of indigency or lack of arrangement to pay. Source: PL 8-36, § 23.