SRC-TNM S.B. 1941 75(R) BILL ANALYSIS Senate Research Center S.B. 1941 By: Haywood Intergovernmental Relations 5-7-97 As Filed DIGEST Currently, the Wichita General Hospital is seeking measures to lease the Bethania Regional Health Care Center. Texas antitrust laws provide for certain exemptions to county-city boards in order to lease hospital facilities. S.B. 1941 would allow for the acquisition or lease of hospital facilities by certain county-municipality hospital boards. PURPOSE As proposed, S.B. 1941 outlines provisions regarding granting authority for certain countymunicipality hospital boards created under Title 4C, Section 265.031, Health and Safety Code, to acquire, lease or manage other hospitals within the same county, in order to displace competition with regulation, maintain local control over health care, and allow county-municipality hospital boards to benefit from economies of scale. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY This bill does not grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, institution, or agency. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Section 265.037, Health and Safety Code, by adding Subsection (d), to authorize a county-municipality hospital board existing in a county with a population of more than 100,000 and a city with a population of more than 75,000 to acquire, lease or manage, directly or indirectly, and sublease one or more health care facilities as an exercise of its powers as a public agency and body politic pursuant to state policy to displace competition with regulation and regardless or whether doing so might be considered anticompetitive under the antitrust laws of the United States or this state. SECTION 2. Emergency clause. Effective date: upon passage.