Sec.17-311-163. Unauthorized charges to self-pay patients

(a) Any facility which is found by the commissioner to have overcharged its self-pay patients, is issued a demand by the commissioner pursuant to subsection (c), and fails to rectify its violation upon demand by the commissioner, shall not be permitted any increase pursuant to Section 17-311-161 of these regulations.

(b) Any facility which charges a self-pay patient or the self-pay patient's legal guardian or conservator an amount greater than that permitted by the commissioner shall either refund the excess amount paid or credit the account of the self-pay patient for the excess amount paid. In the event that the full amount of the overcharge cannot be returned to the patient through the use of the credit, the remaining amount of the overcharge shall be refunded to the patient, the patient's legal guardian or conservator, of his/her estate.

(c) If the Commissioner is notified that a facility has failed to meet the obligations of subsection (b), he shall cause the matter to be investigated for verification of the overcharges. If an overcharge is found to have been made, he shall make demand upon the facility in writing by certified mail demanding that the facility comply with the requirements of subsection (b). If after thirty-one (31) days, the facility has not complied with the demand made by the Commissioner of Income Maintenance, the matter shall be referred to the Office of the attorney general for enforcement of the rate determination pursuant to subsection (e) of section 17-314a of the Connecticut General Statutes.

(Effective June 2, 1986)