Memorial Hospital of South Bend, Inc. v. Indiana Department of Public Welfare

STATON, Judge.

Memorial Hospital appeals the administrative determination that Debra Clark is not entitled to assistance to pay for the costs of her medical care under the Hospital Care for the Indigent Act, raising the sole issue of whether an indigent who is addicted to potentially lethal amounts of cocaine is eligible for assistance to pay medical costs under Indiana Code 12-5-6-2.1.

We affirm.

Debra Clark voluntarily admitted herself into the Pathways Center on October 14, 1987. She had a history of drug abuse, including a year-old cocaine habit which was sustained by the daily consumption…