2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-FOUR - Health and Sanitation (§§ 1 — 15010) › PART VII - Hospitals, Institutions and Health Programs (§§ 3001 — 3891) › Chapter 143 - Right to Health (§§ 3221 — 3235) › § 3231 - Loans

(a) The loans to patients or relatives who can partially or totally defray the diagnosis or treatment authorized shall be at an interest rate equal to half of the prevailing interest in the market, as certified by the Commissioner of Financial Institutions.
(b) The patient shall begin to pay the monthly installments of said loan, according to the payment plan established by the Board, one year after the treatment, regardless of the result thereof. However, if the person responsible for the payment of the loan is the patient, and is disabled, he/she shall not have to pay the same.
(c) The patient, his/her guardian, or the person accountable for the loan, shall make monthly payments on said loan, for which the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized to make the monthly deduction from the corresponding payroll. The funds received on this account shall be covered into a special account at the Department of the Treasury and the collection thereof shall be transferred annually to the Fund, including the principal and interest. When the Board establishes a payment plan it shall do so taking into consideration that it shall not dramatically affect the financial capacity of the debtor to continue with his/her financial obligations and those entailed by the recovery or maintenance of the patient that is treated. The payment plans of the loans may be extended from one to fifteen (15) years. None of the payment plans shall take effect until at least twelve (12) months after the treatment, or the operation of the patient. The Board, after due socioeconomic study and evaluation of the case, may cancel at any time, reevaluate the amount of the payment, or cancel the pending balance of any payment for a loan established pursuant to the provisions of this subsection.
(d) The Board may decide to establish a payment plan whereby the patient, his/her guardian or the person liable therefor, shall make a monthly or annual payment of a specific percent of their net income for a number of years which shall not exceed fifteen (15) years and for which the Secretary of the Treasury is authorized to handle the corresponding payroll documents according to the plan established by the Board. The funds received for this concept shall be covered into a special account in the Department of the Treasury, established in subsection (c) of this section.
When the Board establishes a payment plan pursuant to the provisions of this subsection, it shall do so taking into consideration that it does not dramatically affect the financial capacity of the debtor to keep up with his/her financial obligations and those that will bring about the recovery or maintenance of the patient treated. No payment plan established under the provisions of this subsection shall take effect until at least twelve (12) months have elapsed from the treatment or intervention of the patient.
The Board, after due study and socioeconomic consideration of the case, may at any time reevaluate the amount of the payment, or cancel the pending balance of any payment plan established pursuant to the provisions of this chapter.
History —Aug. 19, 1996, No. 150, § 13.