By: Nelson, West S.B. No. 746

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to unlawful acts against and criminal offenses involving the Medicaid program.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 36.002, Human Resources Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 36.002. UNLAWFUL ACTS. A person commits an unlawful act if the person:

(1) knowingly makes or causes to be made a false statement or misrepresentation of a material fact to permit a person to receive a benefit or payment under the Medicaid program that is not authorized or that is greater than the benefit or payment that is authorized;

(2) knowingly conceals or fails to disclose information that permits a person to receive a benefit or payment under the Medicaid program that is not authorized or that is greater than the benefit or payment that is authorized;

(3) knowingly applies for and receives a benefit or payment on behalf of another person under the Medicaid program and converts any part of the benefit or payment to a use other than for the benefit of the person on whose behalf it was received;

(4) knowingly makes, causes to be made, induces, or seeks to induce the making of a false statement or misrepresentation of material fact concerning:

(A) the conditions or operation of a facility in order that the facility may qualify for certification or recertification required by the Medicaid program, including certification or recertification as:

(i) a hospital;

(ii) a nursing facility or skilled nursing facility;

(iii) a hospice;

(iv) an intermediate care facility for the mentally retarded;

(v) an assisted living facility; or

(vi) a home health agency; or

(B) information required to be provided by a federal or state law, rule, regulation, or provider agreement pertaining to the Medicaid program;

(5) except as authorized under the Medicaid program, knowingly pays, charges, solicits, accepts, or receives, in addition to an amount paid under the Medicaid program, a gift, money, a donation, or other consideration as a condition to the provision of a service or product or the continued provision of a service or product if the cost of the service or product is paid for, in whole or in part, under the Medicaid program;

(6) knowingly presents or causes to be presented a claim for payment under the Medicaid program for a product provided or a service rendered by a person who:

(A) is not licensed to provide the product or render the service, if a license is required; or

(B) is not licensed in the manner claimed;

(7) knowingly makes or causes to be made a claim under the Medicaid program for:

(A) a service or product that has not been approved or acquiesced in by a treating physician or health care practitioner;

(B) a service or product that is substantially inadequate or inappropriate when compared to generally recognized standards within the particular discipline or within the health care industry; or

(C) a product that has been adulterated, debased, mislabeled, or that is otherwise inappropriate;

(8) makes a claim under the Medicaid program and knowingly fails to indicate the type of license and the identification number of the licensed health care provider who actually provided the service;

(9) conspires to commit a violation of Subdivision (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), (6), (7), (8), (10), (11), (12), or (13) [knowingly enters into an agreement, combination, or conspiracy to defraud the state by obtaining or aiding another person in obtaining an unauthorized payment or benefit from the Medicaid program or a fiscal agent];

(10) is a managed care organization that contracts with the Health and Human Services Commission or other state agency to provide or arrange to provide health care benefits or services to individuals eligible under the Medicaid program and knowingly:

(A) fails to provide to an individual a health care benefit or service that the organization is required to provide under the contract;

(B) fails to provide to the commission or appropriate state agency information required to be provided by law, commission or agency rule, or contractual provision; or

(C) engages in a fraudulent activity in connection with the enrollment of an individual eligible under the Medicaid program in the organization's managed care plan or in connection with marketing the organization's services to an individual eligible under the Medicaid program;

(11) knowingly obstructs an investigation by the attorney general of an alleged unlawful act under this section;

(12) knowingly makes, uses, or causes the making or use of a false record or statement material to [conceal, avoid, or decrease] an obligation to pay or transmit money or property to this state under the Medicaid program, or knowingly conceals or knowingly and improperly avoids or decreases an obligation to pay or transmit money or property to this state under the Medicaid program; or

(13) knowingly engages in conduct that constitutes a violation under Section 32.039(b).

SECTION 2. Section 36.104, Human Resources Code, is amended by amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (b-1) to read as follows:

(b) If the state declines to take over the action, the person bringing the action may proceed without the state's participation. A person proceeding under this subsection may recover for an unlawful act for a period of up to six years before the date the lawsuit was filed, or for a period beginning when the unlawful act occurred until up to three years from the date the state knows or reasonably should have known facts material to the unlawful act, whichever of these two periods is longer, regardless of whether the unlawful act occurred more than six years before the date the lawsuit was filed. Notwithstanding the preceding sentence, in no event shall a person proceeding under this subsection recover for an unlawful act that occurred more than 10 years before the date the lawsuit was filed.

(b-1) On request by the state, the state is entitled to be served with copies of all pleadings filed in the action and be provided at the state's expense with copies of all deposition transcripts. If the person bringing the action proceeds without the state's participation, the court, without limiting the status and right of that person, may permit the state to intervene at a later date on a showing of good cause.

SECTION 3. Subsections (b) and (c), Section 36.110, Human Resources Code, are amended to read as follows:

(b) If the court finds that the action is based primarily on disclosures of specific information, other than information provided by the person bringing the action, relating to allegations or transactions in a Texas or federal criminal or civil hearing, in a Texas or federal legislative or administrative report, hearing, audit, or investigation, or from the news media, the court may award the amount the court considers appropriate but not more than 10 [seven] percent of the proceeds of the action. The court shall consider the significance of the information and the role of the person bringing the action in advancing the case to litigation.

(c) A payment to a person under this section shall be made from the proceeds of the action. A person receiving a payment under this section is also entitled to receive from the defendant an amount for reasonable expenses, reasonable attorney's fees, and costs that the court finds to have been necessarily incurred. The court's determination of expenses, fees, and costs to be awarded under this subsection shall be made only after the defendant has been found liable in the action or the claim is settled [state settles an action with a defendant that the court determined, after a hearing, was fair, adequate, and reasonable in accordance with Section 36.107(c)].

SECTION 4. Subsection (b), Section 36.113, Human Resources Code, is amended to read as follows:

(b) The court shall dismiss [A person may not bring] an action or claim under this subchapter, unless opposed by the attorney general, if substantially the same [that is based on the public disclosure of] allegations or transactions as alleged in the action or claim were publicly disclosed in a Texas or federal criminal or civil hearing in which the state or an agent of the state is a party, in a Texas legislative or administrative report, or other Texas hearing, audit, or investigation, or from the news media, unless the person bringing the action is an original source of the information. In this subsection, "original source" means an individual who:

(1) prior to a public disclosure under this subsection, has voluntarily disclosed to the state the information on which allegations or transactions in a claim are based [has direct and independent knowledge of the information on which the allegations are based and has voluntarily provided the information to the state before filing an action under this subchapter that is based on the information]; or

(2) has knowledge that is independent of and materially adds to the publicly disclosed allegation or transactions [allegations] and who has voluntarily provided the information to the state before filing an action under this subchapter [that is based on the information].

SECTION 5. Section 36.115, Human Resources Code, is amended by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:

(a) A person, including an employee, contractor, or agent, who is discharged, demoted, suspended, threatened, harassed, or in any other manner discriminated against in the terms and conditions of employment because of a lawful act taken by the person or associated others in furtherance of an action under this subchapter, including investigation for, initiation of, testimony for, or assistance in an action filed or to be filed under this subchapter, or other efforts taken by the person to stop one or more violations of Section 36.002 is entitled to:

(1) reinstatement with the same seniority status the person would have had but for the discrimination; and

(2) not less than two times the amount of back pay, interest on the back pay, and compensation for any special damages sustained as a result of the discrimination, including litigation costs and reasonable attorney's fees.

(c) A person must bring suit on an action under this section not later than the third anniversary of the date on which the cause of action accrues. For purposes of this section, the cause of action accrues on the date the retaliation occurs.

SECTION 6. Subsection (c), Section 36.113, Human Resources Code, is repealed.

SECTION 7. The changes in law made by this Act to Section 36.002, Human Resources Code, apply only to conduct that occurs on or after the effective date of this Act. Conduct that occurs before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect at the time the conduct occurred, and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.

SECTION 8. The changes in law made by this Act to Sections 36.110 and 36.113, Human Resources Code, apply only to a civil action for a violation of Section 36.002, Human Resources Code, as amended by this Act, commenced on or after the effective date of this Act. A civil action commenced before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect immediately before the effective date of this Act, and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.

SECTION 9. The changes in law made by this Act to Section 36.115, Human Resources Code, apply only to a cause of action that accrues on or after the effective date of this Act. A cause of action that accrued before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law applicable to the cause of action immediately before the effective date of this Act, and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.

SECTION 10. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.