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.