HBA-MPM S.B. 830 76(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisS.B. 830
By: Madla
Public Health
5/2/1999
Engrossed



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

On September 18, 1997, Lieutenant Governor Bob Bullock issued a
supplemental charge to the Interim Committee on Health and Human Services
(committee) to study current practices in patient billing by Texas
hospitals and providers of health care to evaluate the accuracy, clarity,
and timeliness of patient billing.  The committee found that current
practices in patient billing by hospitals and health care providers is not
adequate.  A patient bill uses codes and acronyms which are not explained;
lists dates that do not correspond to actual dates of treatment; and
provides no information on contact persons who could answer questions on a
bill.  S.B. 830 requires specific information to be included in a patient
bill and establishes minimum requirements for an itemized statement of
billed services.  

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does
not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state
officer, department, agency, or institution. 

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

SECTION 1.  Amends Section 241.154(d), Health and Safety Code, to make a
conforming change. 

SECTION 2.  Amends Section 311.002, Health and Safety Code, as follows:

Sec. 311.002.  ITEMIZED STATEMENT OF BILLED SERVICES.  Requires each
hospital to develop, implement, and enforce a written billing policy of
hospital services and supplies. Provides that the policy must include a
periodic review of the itemized statements required by Subsection (b) and a
procedure for handling complaints relating to billed services. Requires a
hospital to provide on request, rather than have available, an itemized
statement of the billed services provided to a person no later that the
30th, rather than 10th, business day after the date of the person's
discharge.  Provides that the statement must: 

_be printed in a conspicuous manner;
_list the date services and supplies were provided;
_state whether a claim has been submitted to a third party payor and if the
payor has paid the claim; 
_if payment is not required, state that payment is not required in a
bold-faced, capitalized, underlined or otherwise predominant typeface or by
other reasonable means to indicate that payment is not required; and 
_contain the telephone number of the facility to call for certain questions
regarding the bill. 

Redesignates existing Subsections (b)-(h) to Subsections (c)-(i).

SECTION 3.  Effective date:  September 1, 1999.
 Makes application of this Act prospective.

SECTION 4.  Emergency clause.