By Duncan                                              S.B. No. 583
         77R2629 CAS-D                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to liens for certain services provided by physicians.
 1-3           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-4           SECTION 1. Section 55.004, Property Code, is amended to read
 1-5     as follows:
 1-6           Sec. 55.004.  AMOUNT OF LIEN. (a)  In this section,
 1-7     "emergency hospital care" means health care services provided in a
 1-8     hospital to evaluate and stabilize a serious medical problem of
 1-9     recent onset or severity, including severe pain that would lead a
1-10     prudent layperson possessing an average knowledge of medicine and
1-11     health to believe that the condition, illness, or injury is of such
1-12     a nature that failure to obtain immediate medical care would in all
1-13     reasonable probability:
1-14                 (1)  seriously jeopardize the patient's health;
1-15                 (2)  seriously impair one or more bodily functions;
1-16                 (3)  seriously harm an organ or other part of the body;
1-17                 (4)  cause serious disfigurement; or
1-18                 (5)  in the case of a pregnant woman, seriously
1-19     jeopardize the health of the fetus.
1-20           (b)  The lien is for the amount of the hospital's charges for
1-21     services provided to the injured individual during the first 100
1-22     days of the injured individual's hospitalization.
1-23           (c)  The lien may also include the amount of a physician's
1-24     reasonable and necessary charges for emergency hospital care
 2-1     provided to the injured individual during the first seven days of
 2-2     the injured individual's hospitalization.  At the request of the
 2-3     physician, the hospital may act on the physician's behalf in
 2-4     securing and discharging the lien.
 2-5           (d)  The [, except that the] lien does not cover charges for:
 2-6                 (1)  [charges for] operating costs that exceed the cost
 2-7     limits established under Section 413.30 [405.460], 42 Code of
 2-8     Federal Regulations; [or]
 2-9                 (2)  [charges for] other services that exceed a
2-10     reasonable and regular rate for the services; or
2-11                 (3)  any services for which the physician has accepted
2-12     insurance benefits or payment under a private medical indemnity
2-13     plan or program.
2-14           (e) [(b)]  The lien is not affected by a hospital's use of a
2-15     method of classifying patients according to their ability to pay
2-16     that is solely intended to obtain a lien for services provided to
2-17     an indigent injured individual.
2-18           SECTION 2. (a)  This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.
2-19           (b)  The change in law made by this Act applies only to
2-20     health care services provided by a physician on or after the
2-21     effective date of this Act.  Health care services provided by a
2-22     physician before the effective date of this Act are covered by the
2-23     law in effect at the time the services were provided, and the
2-24     former law is continued in effect for that purpose.