79R7516 UM-F
By: Staples S.B. No. 1378
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the certification of certain nonprofit hospitals and
hospital systems for limited liability.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 311.0456(a), (c), and (d), Health and
Safety Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) In this section:
(1) "Department" [, "department"] means the
Department of State Health Services [Texas Department of Health].
(2) "Nonprofit hospital" has the meaning assigned by
Section 311.042(9)(A).
(c) To be eligible for certification under Subsection (d), a
nonprofit hospital or hospital system must provide:
(1) charity care in an amount equal to at least eight
percent of the net patient revenue of the hospital or hospital
system during the most recent [preceding] fiscal year of the
hospital or system for which audited data is available; and
(2) at least 40 percent of the charity care provided in
the county in which the hospital is located.
(d) To be certified under this subsection, a nonprofit
hospital or hospital system must submit a written request for
certification [a report based on its most recent completed and
audited prior fiscal year] to the department not later than May 31
[April 30] of each year stating that the hospital or system is
eligible for certification. The department must determine
eligibility for certification [verify the information in the
report] not later than December [May] 31 of the year in which the
department receives the request [report] by checking charity care
data that has been independently audited by the requesting
nonprofit hospital or hospital system and included in [the
information against] the report submitted [filed] by the hospital
or system under Section 311.033 and the statement of community
benefits and charity care submitted by the nonprofit hospital or
hospital system under Section 311.045. If a report under Section
311.033 is not available for all hospitals in a county in which a
nonprofit hospital meeting the requirement of Subsection (c)(1) is
requesting certification, the department shall determine the
eligibility of the hospital or hospital system using other sources
of verified charity care information available at the time of
certification [311.046]. The [After the department has verified
the information in the report, the] department shall certify that
the hospital or hospital system has met the requirements for
certification. The certification issued under this subsection to a
nonprofit hospital or hospital system takes effect on December
[May] 31 of that year and expires on the anniversary of that date.
SECTION 2. (a) Notwithstanding Section 311.0456(b), Health
and Safety Code, if this Act takes effect:
(1) before September 1, 2005, a certification issued
by the Texas Department of Health or the Department of State Health
Services in 2004 continues in effect until December 31, 2005; or
(2) on September 1, 2005, a certification issued by
the Texas Department of Health or the Department of State Health
Services that takes effect May 31, 2005, continues in effect until
December 31, 2006.
(b) The change in law made by this Act to Section 311.0456,
Health and Safety Code, applies only to a certification that occurs
on or after the effective date of this Act. A certification that
occurs before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law
in effect when the certification occurred, and the former law is
continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2005.