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DALLAS (AP) - Keith Laney has lost nearly everything. His wife, Deanna, beat their three young sons with rocks - killing two and permanently impairing the third. And now he could be forced to pay for her care. Deanna Laney was acquitted of murder by reason of insanity in April, so instead of being sentenced to prison a judge committed her to a state hospital, where she could remain for the rest of her life. Unlike prison, the cost of confinement in a state mental hospital isn't totally covered by the state in Texas. The state pays for the poor, but it requires other patients or their families to pay what they can, based on insurance, income, benefits and property. Courts in various states are split on the issue. Some reason that patients should pay because the overriding purpose of their hospital stay is treatment. Others believe patients shouldn't have to pay because the state has ordered them to the hospital, largely to protect the public...
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