By:  Brown of Brazos                                              H.B. No. 636

Substitute the following for H.B. No. 636:                                    

By:  Allen of Dallas                                          C.S.H.B. No. 636


A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to county responsibility for indigent health care services. BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: SECTION 1. Section 61.022, Health and Safety Code, is amended by adding Subsections (c), (d), and (e) to read as follows: (c) In a state fiscal year, a county shall spend at least six percent of the county's general revenue levy for that year to provide health care assistance as prescribed by this subchapter to eligible county residents. (d) A county that does not spend the amount required by Subsection (c) in a state fiscal year shall adopt a less restrictive standard of eligibility as authorized by Section 61.023 for the next fiscal year. (e) The department shall reimburse a county for all expenditures under this chapter from funds appropriated for Medicaid services. The department shall submit all reimbursements for federal matching funds under the Medicaid program. All federal matching funds received shall be deposited in an account in the state general fund for Medicaid purposes. SECTION 2. If before implementing any provision of this Act a state agency determines that a waiver or authorization from a federal agency is necessary for implementation of that provision, the agency affected by the provision shall request the waiver or authorization and may delay implementing that provision until the waiver or authorization is granted. SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.