Carpenter v. Twin Falls County

I see the result obtained by the majority as an anomoly. As stated by Bistline, J., in Idaho Falls Consol. Hosp. v. Bingham Cty. Bd., 102 Idaho 838, 642 P.2d 553 (1982):

“The remaining changes made clear the intent of the legislature to provide assistance for the ‘medically indigent,’ that is to say, for those who are made indigent by catastrophic medical bills, whether from illness or from injury, 'or other cause, such as premature birth. See University of Utah Hospital and Medical Center v. Bethke, 101 Idaho 245, 611 P.2d 1030 (1980).” (Emphasis supplied.)

Here the patient to whom the…