Sec. 164.009.  DISCLOSURES AND REPRESENTATIONS.  (a)  A treatment facility may not admit a patient to its facilities without fully disclosing to the patient or, if the patient is a minor, the patient's parent, managing conservator, or guardian, in, if possible, the primary language of the patient, managing conservator, or guardian, as the case may be, the following information in writing before admission:
(1)  the treatment facility's estimated average daily charge for inpatient treatment with an explanation that the patient may be billed separately for services provided by mental health professionals;
(2)  the name of the attending physician, if the treatment facility is a mental health facility, or the name of the attending mental health professional, if the facility is a chemical dependency facility; and
(3)  the current "patient's bill of rights" as adopted by the executive commissioner that sets out restrictions to the patient's freedom that may be imposed on the patient during the patient's stay in a treatment facility.
(b)  A treatment facility may not misrepresent to a patient or the parent, guardian, managing conservator, or spouse of a patient, the availability or amount of insurance coverage available to the prospective patient or the amount and percentage of a charge for which the patient will be responsible.
(c)  A treatment facility may not represent to a patient who requests to leave a treatment facility against medical advice that:
(1)  the patient will be subject to an involuntary commitment proceeding or subsequent emergency detention unless that representation is made by a physician or on the written instruction of a physician who has evaluated the patient within 48 hours of the representation;  or
(2)  the patient's insurance company will refuse to pay all or any portion of the medical expenses previously incurred.
(d)  A mental health facility may not represent or recommend that a prospective patient should be admitted for inpatient treatment unless the representation is made by a licensed physician or, subsequent to evaluation by a licensed physician, by a mental health professional.
(e)  A chemical dependency facility may not represent or recommend that a prospective patient should be admitted to a facility for treatment unless and until:
(1)  the prospective patient has been evaluated, in person, by a mental health professional; and
(2)  a mental health professional determines that the patient meets the facility's admission standards.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 705, Sec. 2.01, eff. Sept. 1, 1993.
Amended by: 
Acts 2015, 84th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1 (S.B. 219), Sec. 3.0497, eff. April 2, 2015.
Acts 2015, 84th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1211 (S.B. 1560), Sec. 1, eff. June 19, 2015.