BILL ANALYSIS |
C.S.H.B. 2557 |
By: Zerwas |
County Affairs |
Committee Report (Substituted) |
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
Current law provides authority for certain hospital districts to create a charitable organization, but interested parties note that the law does not provide for such a charitable organization to contract, collaborate, or enter into an agreement with a public or private entity. Additionally, the interested parties note that while certain entities in Texas have certain authority to provide for a captive insurance company, certain hospital districts lack such authority. C.S.H.B. 2557 seeks to address these issues.
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CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT
It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.
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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
C.S.H.B. 2557 amends the Health and Safety Code to authorize a charitable organization created by a hospital district in a county with a population of at least 190,000 for the purpose of facilitating the management of a district health care program to contract, collaborate, or enter into a joint venture or other agreement with a public or private entity without regard to such entity's for-profit or nonprofit status and to authorize the charitable organization to hold an ownership interest in such an entity. The bill specifies that the only purposes for which such a charitable organization is considered a unit of local government is for purposes of the Texas Tort Claims Act. The bill removes a condition restricting the authority of a hospital district in a county with a population of at least 190,000 to make a capital or other financial contribution to such a charitable organization to a district created in a county with a population of more than 800,000 that was not included in the boundaries of a hospital district before September 1, 2003. The bill establishes that such a charitable organization remains subject to federal and state laws governing charitable organizations and that nothing in the Health and Safety Code provision relating to such a created charitable organization may be construed as abrogating or modifying any other provision of law governing charitable organizations.
C.S.H.B. 2557 authorizes a hospital district in a county with a population of at least 190,000, a combination of such districts, or a nonprofit corporation formed by such a district or a combination of such districts to further the purposes of the district or districts, as appropriate, to form a captive insurance company or a captive management company for the purpose of engaging in the business of insurance.
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EFFECTIVE DATE
On passage, or, if the bill does not receive the necessary vote, September 1, 2015.
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COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND SUBSTITUTE
While C.S.H.B. 2557 may differ from the original in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following comparison is organized and formatted in a manner that indicates the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.
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