77R10311 JRD-F
By Coleman H.B. No. 2602
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 2602:
By Coleman C.S.H.B. No. 2602
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to indigent health care.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Section 61.006(b), Health and Safety Code, is
1-5 amended to read as follows:
1-6 (b) The minimum eligibility standards must incorporate a net
1-7 income eligibility level equal to 21 [25] percent of the federal
1-8 poverty level based on the federal Office of Management and Budget
1-9 poverty index.
1-10 SECTION 2. Section 61.025(d), Health and Safety Code, is
1-11 amended to read as follows:
1-12 (d) Expenditures made by the county under Subsection (b) may
1-13 be credited toward eligibility for state assistance under this
1-14 subchapter if the person who received the health care services
1-15 meets the eligibility standards established under Section 61.023
1-16 [61.052] and would have been eligible for assistance under the
1-17 county program if the person had not resided in a public hospital's
1-18 service area.
1-19 SECTION 3. Section 61.032(e), Health and Safety Code, is
1-20 amended to read as follows:
1-21 (e) If the county and the provider disagree on the patient's
1-22 residence or eligibility, the county or the provider may submit the
1-23 matter to the department as provided by Section 61.004.
1-24 SECTION 4. Section 61.037(e), Health and Safety Code, is
2-1 amended to read as follows:
2-2 (e) A county that provides health care services described by
2-3 Subsection (a) to its eligible residents through a hospital
2-4 established by a board of managers jointly appointed by a county
2-5 and a municipality under Section 265.011 is eligible for state
2-6 assistance if:
2-7 (1) the county spends in a state fiscal year at least
2-8 eight percent of the county general revenue levy for the year to
2-9 provide the health care services to its eligible county residents
2-10 who qualify for assistance under Section 61.023 [61.052]; and
2-11 (2) the county complies with the requirements of this
2-12 subchapter.
2-13 SECTION 5. Section 61.038(a), Health and Safety Code, is
2-14 amended to read as follows:
2-15 (a) If the department determines that a county is eligible
2-16 for assistance, the department shall distribute funds appropriated
2-17 to the department from the indigent health care assistance fund or
2-18 any other available fund to the county to assist the county in
2-19 providing health care services under Sections 61.028 and 61.0285 to
2-20 its eligible county residents who qualify for assistance as
2-21 described by Section 61.023 [61.037].
2-22 SECTION 6. Section 61.0395, Health and Safety Code, is
2-23 amended to read as follows:
2-24 Sec. 61.0395. LIMITED TO APPROPRIATED FUNDS. [(a)] The
2-25 total amount of state assistance provided to counties under this
2-26 chapter for a fiscal year may not exceed the amount appropriated
2-27 for that purpose for that fiscal year.
3-1 [(b) The department shall adopt rules governing the
3-2 distribution of state assistance under this chapter that establish
3-3 a maximum annual allocation for each county eligible for assistance
3-4 under this chapter in compliance with Subsection (a).]
3-5 [(c) The rules adopted under this section:]
3-6 [(1) may consider the relative populations of the
3-7 service areas of eligible counties and other appropriate factors;
3-8 and]
3-9 [(2) notwithstanding Subsection (b), may provide for,
3-10 at the end of each state fiscal year, the reallocation of all money
3-11 that is allocated to a county under Subsection (b) but that the
3-12 county is not eligible to receive and the distribution of that
3-13 money to other eligible counties.]
3-14 SECTION 7. Section 61.052(g), Health and Safety Code, is
3-15 amended to read as follows:
3-16 (g) A county that provides health care services to its
3-17 eligible residents through a hospital established by a board of
3-18 managers jointly appointed by a county and a municipality under
3-19 Section 265.011 and that establishes an income and resources
3-20 standard in accordance with Subsection (a)(2) may credit only the
3-21 services provided to [all] persons who are eligible under the
3-22 [that] standard described by Sections 61.023(a)(2) and (3) or
3-23 Section 61.023(b) toward eligibility for state assistance as
3-24 described by Section 61.037(e).
3-25 SECTION 8. Section 61.059(e), Health and Safety Code, is
3-26 amended to read as follows:
3-27 (e) If the public hospital and the provider disagree on the
4-1 patient's residence or eligibility, the hospital or the provider
4-2 may submit the matter to the department as provided by Section
4-3 61.004.
4-4 SECTION 9. Section 46.003(f), Health and Safety Code, as
4-5 added by Chapter 969, Acts of the 76th Legislature, Regular
4-6 Session, 1999, is amended to read as follows:
4-7 (f) Except as provided by Subsection (e), the account shall
4-8 be allocated for:
4-9 (1) payment to tertiary care facilities and level IV
4-10 trauma centers for unreimbursed tertiary medical services and
4-11 stabilization services, as provided for in Sections 46.005 and
4-12 46.006; and
4-13 (2) payment of state assistance as provided for in
4-14 Chapter 61.
4-15 SECTION 10. Section 466.408(b), Government Code, is amended
4-16 to read as follows:
4-17 (b) If a claim is not made for prize money on or before the
4-18 180th day after the date on which the winner was selected, the
4-19 prize money shall be deposited to the credit of the Texas
4-20 Department of Health state-owned multicategorical teaching hospital
4-21 account or the tertiary care facility account as follows:
4-22 (1) not more than $40 million in prize money each
4-23 biennium may be deposited to or appropriated from the Texas
4-24 Department of Health state-owned multicategorical teaching hospital
4-25 account, which is an account in the general revenue fund; and
4-26 (2) all prize money subject to this section in excess
4-27 of $40 million each biennium shall be deposited in the tertiary
5-1 care facility account. Money deposited in the tertiary care
5-2 facility account may only be appropriated to the department for
5-3 purposes specified in Chapter 46 or 61, Health and Safety Code.
5-4 SECTION 11. Section 61.006(b-2), Health and Safety Code, is
5-5 repealed.
5-6 SECTION 12. (a) The changes in law made by this Act to
5-7 Chapter 61, Health and Safety Code, take effect September 1, 2001.
5-8 (b) Except as provided by Subsection (a) of this section,
5-9 this Act takes effect immediately if it receives a vote of
5-10 two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as provided by
5-11 Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this Act does not
5-12 receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this Act takes
5-13 effect on the 91st day after the last day of the legislative
5-14 session.