By Lindsay                                            S.B. No. 1031
         77R5849 CAS-F                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to certain hospital liens.
 1-3           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-4           SECTION 1. Section 55.002, Property Code, is amended to read
 1-5     as follows:
 1-6           Sec. 55.002.  LIEN. (a)  A hospital has a lien on a cause of
 1-7     action or claim of an individual who receives hospital services for
 1-8     injuries caused by an accident that is attributed to the negligence
 1-9     of another person.  For the lien to attach, the individual must
1-10     receive emergency treatment or be admitted to a hospital not later
1-11     than 72 hours after the accident.
1-12           (b)  The lien extends to both the treating or admitting
1-13     hospital and a hospital to which the individual is transferred for
1-14     treatment of the same injury.
1-15           SECTION 2. Section 55.007(b), Property Code, is amended to
1-16     read as follows:
1-17           (b)  A judgment to which the lien has attached remains in
1-18     effect until the hospital's charges are paid in full or to the
1-19     extent set out in the judgment.  If the hospital's charges are not
1-20     paid in full, the hospital may collect any outstanding amount owed
1-21     in the same manner as the hospital may collect any other debt owed
1-22     to the hospital that is not secured by a lien.
1-23           SECTION 3. The change in law made by this Act applies only to
1-24     a cause of action or claim that accrues on or after the effective
 2-1     date of this Act.  A cause of action or claim that accrued before
 2-2     the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect
 2-3     when the cause of action or claim accrued, and that law is
 2-4     continued in effect for that purpose.
 2-5           SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.