Amend HB 3124 (senate committee report) by adding the following appropriately numbered SECTION to the bill and renumbering the SECTIONS of the bill accordingly:

SECTION ____.  (a) In this section, "department" means the Department of State Health Services.

(b)  The department shall conduct a study on the feasibility of using the information provided to the department under the statewide health care data collection system developed under Section 108.006, Health and Safety Code, for creating a database accessible through the Texas Health Care Information Collection website. The database must:

(1)  be searchable;

(2)  include the average and percentile billed charges for health care procedures performed at inpatient care facilities, outpatient care facilities, and hospital outpatient departments; and

(3)  categorize the information described by Subdivision (2) of this subsection according to the American Medical Association's Current Procedural Terminology code for the health care procedure associated with the amount billed.

(c)  In conducting the feasibility study under Subsection (b) of this section, the department shall evaluate the cost of making the database accessible to:

(1)  the general public at no cost;

(2)  health care providers at a cost; and

(3)  both the general public at no cost and health care providers at a cost.

(d)  Not later than December 1, 2018, the department shall report the results of the study required under this section to the governor, the lieutenant governor, the speaker of the house of representatives, and members of the appropriate standing committees of the senate and the house of representatives.

(e)  The department may contract with a third-party entity to conduct the study required under this section.

(f)  This section expires September 1, 2019.