HBA-CCH H.B. 1720 77(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 1720 By: Janek Business & Industry 3/26/2001 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Currently, a hospital can hold a lien for services provided during a patient's first 100 days of treatment. Yet, services provided by emergency room physicians are often not compensated, and the collection rate for trauma treatment is low. House Bill 1720 provides for a lien to include compensation for the emergency room physician. 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. ANALYSIS House Bill 1720 amends the Property Code to provide that the lien for the amount of the hospital's charges for services provided to the injured individual during the first 100 days of the injured individual's hospitalization may also include the amount of a physician's reasonable and necessary charges for emergency hospital care provided to the injured individual during the first seven days of the injured individual's hospitalization. The bill also authorizes the hospital to act on the physician's behalf in securing and discharging the lien, at the request of the physician. However, the bill provides that the lien does not cover charges for any services for which the physician has accepted insurance benefits or payment under a private medical indemnity plan or program. EFFECTIVE DATE September 1, 2001.