An Act Regarding Access to Appropriate Residential Services for Individuals Being Discharged from Psychiatric Hospitalization

Sec. 1. 34-B MRSA §1226  is enacted to read:

§ 1226.  Request by patient for residential services

summary

This bill provides that, if a patient in a hospital who received treatment for a psychiatric condition and who the hospital has determined is clinically ready for discharge requests admission or readmission from the hospital to a facility operated by a residential service provider and that request is denied, the residential service provider must provide the patient the reasons for the denial in writing no later than 3 business days after the request is denied.

The bill directs the Department of Health and Human Services to develop a standardized form for use by residential service providers to state the specific reasons for denial. A residential service provider must provide the standardized form to the patient or the patient's parent or guardian or designated representative. A residential service provider must annually send to the department's division of licensing and regulatory services a report of all patients who are denied admission or readmission and the reasons given the patients that were contained in the standardized forms.

The bill allows a patient or a patient's parent or guardian or designated representative to recover $500 from a residential service provider that violates these provisions. It also provides for the revocation of the license of a residential service provider that violates these provisions 3 times or more in a calendar year.