2005 Texas Health & Safety Code CHAPTER 552. STATE HOSPITALS

HEALTH & SAFETY CODE

CHAPTER 552. STATE HOSPITALS

SUBCHAPTER A. GENERAL PROVISIONS


	§ 552.001. HOSPITAL DISTRICTS.  (a) The department shall 
divide the state into hospital districts.
	(b)  The department may change the districts.                                  
	(c)  The department shall designate the state hospitals to 
which persons with mental illness from each district shall be 
admitted.

Added by Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 76, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1991.            

SUBCHAPTER B. INDIGENT AND NONINDIGENT PATIENTS


	§ 552.011. DEFINITION.  In this subchapter, "patient" 
means a person admitted to a state hospital under the management and 
control of the department.

Added by Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 76, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1991.            


	§ 552.012. CLASSIFICATION AND DEFINITION OF 
PATIENTS.  (a) A patient is classified as either indigent or 
nonindigent.
	(b)  An indigent patient is a patient who:                                     
		(1)  possesses no property;                                                   
		(2)  has no person legally responsible for the 
patient's support;  and      
		(3)  is unable to reimburse the state for the costs of 
the patient's support, maintenance, and treatment.
	(c)  A nonindigent patient is a patient who:                                   
		(1)  possesses property from which the state may be 
reimbursed for the costs of the patient's support, maintenance, and 
treatment;  or
		(2)  has a person legally responsible for the patient's 
support.            

Added by Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 76, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1991.            


	§ 552.013. SUPPORT OF INDIGENT AND NONINDIGENT 
PATIENTS.  (a) A person may not be denied services under this 
subtitle because of an inability to pay for the services.
	(b)  The state shall support, maintain, and treat indigent 
and nonindigent patients at the expense of the state.
	(c)  The state is entitled to reimbursement for the support, 
maintenance, and treatment of a nonindigent patient.
	(d)  A patient who does not own a sufficient estate shall be 
maintained at the expense:
		(1)  of the patient's spouse, if able to do so;  or                           
		(2)  if the patient is younger than 18 years of age, of 
the patient's father or mother, if able to do so.

Added by Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 76, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1991.            


	§ 552.014. CHILD SUPPORT PAYMENTS FOR BENEFIT OF 
PATIENT.  (a) Child support payments for the benefit of a patient 
paid or owed by a parent under court order are considered the 
property and estate of the patient, and the state may be reimbursed 
for the costs of a patient's support, maintenance, and treatment 
from those amounts.
	(b)  The state shall credit the amount of child support a 
parent actually pays for a patient against charges for which the 
parent is liable, based on ability to pay.
	(c)  A parent who receives child support payments for a 
patient is liable for the charges based on the amount of child 
support payments actually received in addition to the liability of 
that parent based on ability to pay.
	(d)  The department may file a motion to modify a court order 
that establishes a child support obligation for a patient to 
require payment of the child support directly to the state hospital 
or facility in which the patient resides for the patient's support, 
maintenance, and treatment if:
		(1)  the patient's parent fails to pay child support as 
required by the order;  or
		(2)  the patient's parent who receives child support 
fails to pay charges based on the amount of child support payments 
received.
	(e)  In addition to modification of an order under Subsection 
(d), the court may order all past due child support for the benefit 
of a patient paid directly to the patient's state hospital or 
facility to the extent that the state is entitled to reimbursement 
of the patient's charges from the child support obligation.

Added by Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 76, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1991.            


	§ 552.015. INVESTIGATION TO DETERMINE MEANS OF 
SUPPORT.  (a) The department may demand and conduct an 
investigation in a county court to determine whether a patient 
possesses or is entitled to property or whether a person other than 
the patient is liable for the payment of the costs of the patient's 
support, maintenance, and treatment.
	(b)  The department may have citation issued and witnesses 
summoned to be heard on the investigation.

Added by Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 76, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1991.            


	§ 552.016. FEES.  (a) Except as provided by this section, 
the department may not charge a fee that exceeds the cost to the 
state to support, maintain, and treat a patient.
	(b)  The department may use the projected cost of providing 
inpatient services to establish the maximum fee that may be charged 
to a payer.
	(c)  The department may establish the maximum fee according 
to one or a combination of the following:
		(1)  a statewide per capita;                                                  
		(2)  an individual facility per capita;  or                                   
		(3)  the type of service provided.                                            
	(d)  Notwithstanding Subsection (b), the department may 
establish a fee in excess of the department's projected cost of 
providing inpatient services that may be charged to a payer:
		(1)  who is not an individual;  and                                           
		(2)  whose method of determining the rate of 
reimbursement to a provider results in the excess.

Added by Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 76, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1991.            


	§ 552.017. SLIDING FEE SCHEDULE.  (a) The department by 
rule shall establish a sliding fee schedule for the payment by the 
patient's parents of the state's total costs for the support, 
maintenance, and treatment of a patient younger than 18 years of 
age.
	(b)  The department shall set the fee according to the 
parents' net taxable income and ability to pay.
	(c)  The parents may elect to have their net taxable income 
determined by their current financial statement or most recent 
federal income tax return.
	(d)  In determining the portion of the costs of the patient's 
support, maintenance, and treatment that the parents are required 
to pay, the department shall adjust, when appropriate, the payment 
required under the fee schedule to allow for consideration of other 
factors affecting the ability of the parents to pay.
	(e)  The department shall evaluate and, if necessary, revise 
the fee schedule at least once every five years.

Added by Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 76, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1991.  
Amended by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 278, § 1, eff. June 5, 1995.


	§ 552.018. TRUST PRINCIPALS.  (a) If a patient is the 
beneficiary of a trust that has an aggregate principal of $250,000 
or less, the corpus or income of the trust is not considered to be 
the property of the patient or the patient's estate and is not 
liable for the patient's support.  If the aggregate principal of the 
trust exceeds $250,000, only the portion of the corpus of the trust 
that exceeds that amount and the income attributable to that 
portion are considered to be the property of the patient or the 
patient's estate and are liable for the patient's support.
	(b)  To qualify for the exemption provided by Subsection (a), 
the trust must be created by a written instrument, and a copy of the 
trust instrument must be provided to the department.
	(c)  A trustee of the trust shall, on the department's 
request, provide to the department a financial statement that shows 
the value of the trust estate.
	(d)  The department may petition a district court to order 
the trustee to provide a financial statement if the trustee does not 
provide the statement before the 31st day after the date on which 
the department makes the request.  The court shall hold a hearing on 
the department's petition not later than the 45th day after the date 
on which the petition is filed.  The court shall order the trustee 
to provide to the department a financial statement if the court 
finds that the trustee has failed to provide the statement.
	(e)  For the purposes of this section, the following are not 
considered to be trusts and are not entitled to the exemption 
provided by this section:
		(1)  a guardianship established under the Texas Probate 
Code;               
		(2)  a trust established under Chapter 142, Property 
Code;                  
		(3)  a facility custodial account established under 
Section 551.003;        
		(4)  the provisions of a divorce decree or other court 
order relating to child support obligations;
		(5)  an administration of a decedent's estate;  or                            
		(6)  an arrangement in which funds are held in the 
registry or by the clerk of a court.

Added by Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 76, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1991.  
Amended by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 1020, § 2, eff. June 15, 
2001.


	§ 552.019. FILING OF CLAIMS.  (a) A county or district 
attorney shall, on the written request of the department, represent 
the state in filing a claim in probate court or a petition in a court 
of competent jurisdiction:
		(1)  to require the person responsible for a patient to 
appear in court and show cause why the state should not have 
judgment against the person for the costs of the patient's support, 
maintenance, and treatment;  or
		(2)  if the liability arises under Subchapter D, 
Chapter 593, to require a person responsible for a resident to 
appear in court and show cause why the state should not have 
judgment against the person for the resident's support and 
maintenance in a residential care facility operated by the 
department.
	(b)  On a sufficient showing, the court may enter judgment 
against:          
		(1)  the person responsible for the patient for the 
costs of the patient's support, maintenance, and treatment;  or
		(2)  the person responsible for the resident for the 
costs of the resident's support and maintenance.
	(c)  Sufficient evidence to authorize the court to enter 
judgment is:        
		(1)  a verified account, sworn to by the superintendent 
or director of the hospital in which the patient is being treated, 
or has been treated, as to the amount due;  or
		(2)  a verified account, sworn to by the superintendent 
or director of the residential care facility in which the person 
with mental retardation resided or has resided, as to the amount 
due.
	(d)  The judgment may be enforced as in other cases.                           
	(e)  The county or district attorney representing the state 
is entitled to a commission of 10 percent of the amount collected.
	(f)  The attorney general shall represent the state if the 
county and district attorney refuse or are unable to act on the 
department's request.
	(g)  In this section:                                                          
		(1)  "Person responsible for a patient" means the 
guardian of a patient, a person liable for the support of the 
patient, or both.
		(2)  "Person responsible for a resident" means the 
resident, a person liable for the support of the resident, or both.
		(3)  "Resident" means a person admitted to a 
residential care facility operated by the department for persons 
with mental retardation.

Added by Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 76, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1991.            


	§ 552.020. APPLICATION.  Except as provided by Subchapter 
C, Chapter 73, Education Code, this subchapter does not apply to The 
University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.

Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 3, § 4, eff. Sept. 1, 1995.