46.10 Cost of care and maintenance, liability; collection and deportation counsel; collections; court actions; recovery.

1,152 words·~5 min read·/wi/chapter-46/46-10

A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.

(1)Liability and the collection and enforcement of such liability for the care, maintenance, services, and supplies specified in this section is governed exclusively by this section, except in cases of child support ordered by a court under s. 48.355

(b)4. or

(a), 48.357

(a), or 48.363

(2)or ch. 767 .

(2)Except as provided in subs.

(2m)and

(b)and

(c), any person, including but not limited to a person admitted, committed, protected, or placed under s. 975.01 , 1977 stats., s. 975.02 , 1977 stats., s. 975.17 , 1977 stats., s. 55.05

(5), 2003 stats., and s. 55.06 , 2003 stats., and ss. 51.10 , 51.13 , 51.15 , 51.20 , 51.35

(3), 51.37

(5), 51.45

(10),

(11),

(12)and

(13), 55.05 , 55.055 , 55.12 , 55.13 , 55.135 , 971.14

(2)and

(5), 971.17

(1), 975.06 and 980.06 , receiving care, maintenance, services and supplies provided by any institution in this state including University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics, in which the state is chargeable with all or part of the person’s care, maintenance, services and supplies, any person receiving care and services from a county department established under s. 51.42 or 51.437 or from a facility established under s. 49.73 , and any person receiving treatment and services from a public or private agency under s. 980.06

(c), 1997 stats., s. 980.08

(5), 2003 stats., or s. 971.17

(d)or

(e)or 980.08

(g)and the person’s property and estate, including the homestead, and the spouse of the person, and the spouse’s property and estate, including the homestead, and, in the case of a minor child, the parents of the person, and their property and estates, including their homestead, and, in the case of a foreign child described in s. 48.839

(1)who became dependent on public funds for his or her primary support before an order granting his or her adoption, the resident of this state appointed guardian of the child by a foreign court who brought the child into this state for the purpose of adoption, and his or her property and estate, including his or her homestead, shall be liable for the cost of the care, maintenance, services and supplies in accordance with the fee schedule established by the department under s. 46.03

(18). If a spouse, widow or minor, or an incapacitated person may be lawfully dependent upon the property for their support, the court shall release all or such part of the property and estate from the charges that may be necessary to provide for those persons. The department shall make every reasonable effort to notify the liable persons as soon as possible after the beginning of the maintenance, but the notice or the receipt thereof is not a condition of liability.

(2m)The liability specified in sub.

(2)shall not apply to tuberculosis patients receiving care, maintenance, services and supplies under ss. 252.07 to 252.10 , to persons 18 and older receiving care, maintenance, services and supplies provided by prisons named in s. 302.01 or to parents of a minor who receives care for alcohol or drug abuse under s. 51.47

(1)without consent of the minor’s parent or guardian.

(3)After investigation of the liable persons’ ability to pay, the department shall make collection from the person who in the opinion of the department under all of the circumstances is best able to pay, giving due regard to relationship and the present needs of the person or of the lawful dependents. However, the liability of relatives for maintenance shall be in the following order: first, the spouse of the patient; then, in the case of a minor, the parent or parents.

(a)If a person liable under sub.

(2)fails to make payment or enter into or comply with an agreement for payment, the department may bring an action to enforce the liability or may issue an order to compel payment of the liability. Any person aggrieved by an order issued by the department under this paragraph may appeal the order as a contested case under ch. 227 by filing with the department a request for a hearing within 30 days after the date of the order.

(b)If judgment is rendered in an action brought under par.

(a)for any balance that is 90 or more days past due, interest at the rate of 12 percent per year shall be computed by the clerk and added to the liable person’s costs. That interest shall begin on the date on which payment was due and shall end on the day before the date of any interest that is computed under s. 814.04

(4).

(c)If the department issues an order to compel payment under par.

(a), interest at the rate of 12 percent per year shall be computed by the department and added at the time of payment to the person’s liability. That interest shall begin on the date on which payment was due and shall end on the day before the date of final payment.

(5)If any person named in an order to compel payment issued under sub.

(a)fails to pay the department any amount due under the terms of the order and no contested case to review the order is pending and the time for filing for a contested case review has expired, the department may present a certified copy of the order to the circuit court for any county. The circuit court shall, without notice, render judgment in accordance with the order. A judgment rendered under this subsection shall have the same effect and shall be entered in the judgment and lien docket and may be enforced in the same manner as if the judgment had been rendered in an action tried and determined by the circuit court.

(6)The sworn statement of the collection and deportation counsel, or of the secretary, shall be evidence of the fee and of the care and services received by the patient.

(7)The department shall administer and enforce this section. It shall appoint an attorney to be designated “collection and deportation counsel” and other necessary assistants. The department may delegate to the collection and deportation counsel such other powers and duties as it considers advisable. The collection and deportation counsel or any of the assistants may administer oaths, take affidavits and testimony, examine public records, subpoena witnesses and the production of books, papers, records, and documents material to any matter of proceeding relating to payments for the cost of maintenance. The department shall encourage agreements or settlements with the liable person, having due regard to ability to pay and the present needs of lawful dependents.