BILL ANALYSIS

H.B. 1142

By: Lambert

County Affairs

Committee Report (Unamended)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

It has been noted that certain local communities have benefited from the creation of local health care provider participation programs. It has been suggested that certain counties would benefit from the creation of such a program as well. H.B. 1142 seeks to address this issue by providing for the creation and operation of a program in certain counties.

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. 1142 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 125,000 and less than 140,000, and is not adjacent to a county with a population of one million or more. 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. Money in the fund may be used by the county to fund certain intergovernmental transfers and indigent care programs as provided by the bill. 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. 1142 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 requires the commissioners court, not later than the fifth day before the date of such a hearing, to publish notice of the hearing in a newspaper of general circulation in the county. The bill provides for the designation of one or more local banks as the depository for mandatory payments and for the creation, composition, and use of a county's local provider participation fund.

H.B. 1142 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, 2019.