By Uher H.B. No. 778
77R941 PEP-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the responsibility for payment of costs incurred in
1-3 providing certain medical, dental, or health-related services to a
1-4 state prisoner held in county jail.
1-5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-6 SECTION 1. Article 104.002(d), Code of Criminal Procedure, is
1-7 amended to read as follows:
1-8 (d)(1) A person who is [or was] a prisoner in a county jail
1-9 and receives [received] medical, dental, or health-related [health
1-10 related] services from a county or a hospital district shall be
1-11 required to pay for the [such] services when the services [they]
1-12 are rendered. If the [such] prisoner is an eligible county resident
1-13 as defined in Section 61.002, Health and Safety Code, the county or
1-14 hospital district providing the services has a right of subrogation
1-15 to the prisoner's right of recovery from any source, limited to the
1-16 cost of services provided. A prisoner, unless the prisoner fully
1-17 pays for the cost of services received, remains [shall remain]
1-18 obligated to reimburse the county or hospital district for any
1-19 medical, dental, or health-related [health] services provided, and
1-20 the county or hospital district may apply for reimbursement in the
1-21 manner provided by Chapter 61, Health and Safety Code. A county or
1-22 hospital district may [shall have authority to] recover the amount
1-23 expended in a civil action.
1-24 (2) If the prisoner is a person confined in county
2-1 jail awaiting transfer to a confinement facility operated by or
2-2 under contract with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice or the
2-3 Texas Youth Commission or is a person confined in county jail
2-4 awaiting a hearing before a parole panel or a designated agent of
2-5 the Board of Pardons and Paroles, the state shall reimburse the
2-6 county or hospital district the reasonable cost of any necessary
2-7 medical, dental, or health-related services provided. The Texas
2-8 Department of Health shall establish guidelines for the state to
2-9 determine, for purposes of this section, whether a medical, dental,
2-10 or health-related service is necessary and whether a cost is
2-11 reasonable. On the first day of each quarter of a county's fiscal
2-12 year, the county judge shall certify to the comptroller of public
2-13 accounts the costs for which the county is entitled to receive
2-14 reimbursement under this subdivision. The comptroller, after
2-15 reviewing the certification for compliance with the guidelines,
2-16 shall issue to the commissioners court a warrant in the amount of
2-17 the reasonable costs of the necessary services provided. On the
2-18 county's receipt of reimbursement, the state has a right of
2-19 recovery from any source described by Section 61.044(a), Health and
2-20 Safety Code.
2-21 SECTION 2. (a) The Texas Department of Health shall
2-22 establish guidelines as required by Article 104.002(d), Code of
2-23 Criminal Procedure, as amended by this Act, not later than October
2-24 1, 2001.
2-25 (b) This Act applies only to medical, dental, or
2-26 health-related service costs that are incurred on or after October
2-27 15, 2001. Medical, dental, or health-related service costs incurred
3-1 before that date are covered by the law in effect when the costs
3-2 were incurred, and the former law is continued in effect for that
3-3 purpose.
3-4 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
3-5 a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
3-6 provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
3-7 Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
3-8 Act takes effect September 1, 2001.