BILL ANALYSIS

H.B. 2062

By: Phillips

County Affairs

Committee Report (Unamended)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Interested parties are concerned that certain counties without a county hospital are unable to take advantage of mechanisms available to other counties for drawing down federal funding to finance critical health care needs. The parties contend that additional tools to help finance this care would ease the burden on those counties and better serve county residents. H.B. 2062 seeks to address this issue by providing for the creation and operation of health care provider participation programs.

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.

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.

ANALYSIS

H.B. 2062 amends the Health and Safety Code to provide for a county health care provider participation program in a county that is not served by a hospital district or a public hospital, has a population of more than 100,000, contains at least two municipalities each of which has a population of more than 15,000, and borders the Red River. The bill establishes that such a program authorizes a county to collect a mandatory payment from each institutional health care provider located in the county to be deposited in a local provider participation fund established by the county. The bill authorizes money in the fund to be used by the county to fund certain intergovernmental transfers and indigent care programs. The bill authorizes the commissioners court to adopt an order authorizing a county to participate in the program, subject to certain limitations. The bill defines, among other terms, "institutional health care provider" as a nonpublic hospital that provides inpatient hospital services.

H.B. 2062 sets out the powers and duties of a commissioners court with respect to the county health care provider participation program. The bill provides for an annual public hearing on the amounts of any mandatory payments that the commissioners court intends to require during the year and how the revenue derived from those payments is to be spent. The bill provides for the designation of one or more local banks as the depository for mandatory payments and the creation, composition, and use of a county's local provider participation fund.

H.B. 2062 provides for the amount, assessment, and collection of a mandatory payment. The bill establishes that interest, penalties, and discounts on mandatory payments are governed by the law applicable to county property taxes. The bill authorizes a county to provide by rule for an alternative provision or procedure that conforms to the requirements of the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to the extent any provision or procedure under the bill's provisions causes a mandatory payment to be ineligible for federal matching funds.

EFFECTIVE DATE

On passage, or, if the bill does not receive the necessary vote, September 1, 2017.