BILL ANALYSIS |
C.S.S.B. 872 |
By: Deuell |
County Affairs |
Committee Report (Substituted) |
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
Under the Indigent Health Care and Treatment Act, certain counties are required to provide certain medical services for eligible indigent county residents. The county may be eligible for state assistance if such expenditures exceed a certain percentage of the county's general revenue levy in a state fiscal year. Through a federal waiver to expand Medicaid services, counties are authorized to make intergovernmental transfers for purposes of receiving federal matching funds for those expanded services. C.S.S.B. 872 seeks to amend current law relating to expenditures for indigent health care.
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RULEMAKING AUTHORITY
It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.
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ANALYSIS
Section 531.0055, Government Code, as amended by Chapter 198 (H.B. 2292), Acts of the 78th Legislature, Regular Session, 2003, expressly grants to the executive commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission all rulemaking authority for the operation of and provision of services by the health and human services agencies. Similarly, Sections 1.16-1.29, Chapter 198 (H.B. 2292), Acts of the 78th Legislature, Regular Session, 2003, provide for the transfer of a power, duty, function, program, or activity from a health and human services agency abolished by that act to the corresponding legacy agency. To the extent practical, this bill analysis is written to reflect any transfer of rulemaking authority and to update references as necessary to an agency's authority with respect to a particular health and human services program.
C.S.S.B. 872 amends the Health and Safety Code to authorize a county, regardless of the application, documentation, and verification procedures or eligibility standards established by the executive commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission under general provisions of the Indigent Health Care and Treatment Act, to credit an intergovernmental transfer to the state toward eligibility for state assistance if the transfer was made to provide health care services as part of the Texas Healthcare Transformation and Quality Improvement Program waiver issued under applicable federal law. The bill authorizes a county to credit toward eligibility for state assistance such intergovernmental transfers that in the aggregate do not exceed four percent of the county's general revenue levy in any state fiscal year, provided the commissioners court determines that the expenditure fulfills the county's obligations to provide indigent health care under the Indigent Health Care and Treatment Act; the commissioners court determines that the amount of care available through participation in the waiver is sufficient in type and amount to meet the requirements of that act; and the county receives periodic reports from health care providers that receive supplemental or incentive payments under the Texas Healthcare Transformation and Quality Improvement Program waiver that document the number and types of services provided to persons who are eligible to receive services under that act.
C.S.S.B. 872 requires the Department of State Health Services, not later than December 1, 2014, to submit a report to the governor, the lieutenant governor, and the speaker of the house of representatives on the effects of the bill's provisions on services rendered to eligible residents under the Indigent Health Care and Treatment Act.
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EFFECTIVE DATE
On passage, or, if the bill does not receive the necessary vote, September 1, 2013.
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COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND SUBSTITUTE
While C.S.S.B. 872 may differ from the engrossed version in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following comparison is organized and highlighted in a manner that indicates the substantial differences between the engrossed and committee substitute versions of the bill.
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