US Laws, Codes, Statutes & Cases

     246.51 Payment for care and treatment; determination. 

    Subdivision 1.    Procedures.  The commissioner shall 
 make investigation as necessary to determine, and as 
 circumstances require redetermine, what part of the cost of 
 care, if any, the client is able to pay.  If the client is 
 unable to pay the full cost of care the commissioner shall make 
 a determination as to the ability of the relatives to pay.  The 
 client and relatives shall provide the commissioner documents 
 and proofs necessary to determine their ability to pay.  Failure 
 to provide the commissioner with sufficient information to 
 determine ability to pay may make the client or relatives liable 
 for the full cost of care until the time when sufficient 
 information is provided.  No parent shall be liable for the cost 
 of care given a client at a regional treatment center after the 
 client has reached the age of 18 years.  The commissioner's 
 determination shall be conclusive in any action to enforce 
 payment of the cost of care unless appealed from as provided in 
 section 246.55.  All money received, except for chemical 
 dependency receipts, shall be paid to the commissioner of 
 finance and placed in the general fund of the state and a 
 separate account kept of it.  Except for services provided under 
 chapter 254B, responsibility under this section shall not apply 
 to those relatives having gross earnings of less than $11,000 
 per year.  

    Subd. 2.    Rules.  The commissioner shall adopt, 
 pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act, rules establishing 
 uniform standards for determination of client liability and 
 relative, guardian or conservator responsibility for care 
 provided at state facilities.  The standards may differ for 
 mental illness, chemical dependency, or mental retardation.  The 
 standards established in rules adopted under chapter 254B shall 
 determine the amount of client and relative responsibility when 
 a portion of the client's cost of care has been paid under 
 chapter 254B.  These rules shall have the force and effect of 
 law.  

    Subd. 3.    Applicability.  The commissioner may 
 recover, under sections 246.50 to 246.55, the cost of any care 
 provided in a state facility, including care provided prior to 
 July 1, 1989, regardless of the terminology used to designate 
 the status or condition of the person receiving the care or the 
 terminology used to identify the facility.  For purposes of 
 recovering the cost of care provided prior to July 1, 1989, the 
 term "state facility" as used in sections 246.50 to 246.55 
 includes "state hospital," "regional treatment center," or 
 "regional center"; and the term "client" includes, but is not 
 limited to, persons designated as "mentally deficient," 
 "inebriate," "chemically dependent," or "intoxicated." 

    HIST: 1959 c 578 s 2; 1969 c 399 s 1; 1971 c 637 s 5; 1973 c 
 35 s 46; 1973 c 138 s 1; 1973 c 235 s 2; 1973 c 725 s 45; 1977 c 
 331 s 1; 1982 c 641 art 1 s 6; 1986 c 394 s 5; 1987 c 299 s 1; 
 1987 c 384 art 1 s 20; 1987 c 403 art 2 s 51; 1989 c 282 art 2 s 
 90,218; 2003 c 112 art 2 s 50 

Copyright 2005 by the Office of Revisor of Statutes, State of Minnesota.