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A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
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AN ACT
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relating to unconscionable prices charged by certain health care |
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facilities for medical care. |
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BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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SECTION 1. Subchapter E, Chapter 17, Business & Commerce |
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Code, is amended by adding Section 17.464 to read as follows: |
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Sec. 17.464. UNCONSCIONABLE PRICE FOR CARE AT EMERGENCY |
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FACILITY. (a) In this section: |
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(1) "Emergency care" means health care services |
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provided in an emergency facility to evaluate and stabilize medical |
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conditions of a recent onset and severity, including severe pain, |
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that would lead a prudent layperson possessing an average knowledge |
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of medicine and health to believe that the individual's condition, |
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sickness, or injury is of such a nature that failure to get |
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immediate medical care could: |
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(A) place the individual's health in serious |
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jeopardy; |
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(B) result in serious impairment to bodily |
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functions; |
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(C) result in serious dysfunction of a bodily |
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organ or part; |
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(D) result in serious disfigurement; or |
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(E) for a pregnant woman, result in serious |
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jeopardy to the health of the fetus. |
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(2) "Emergency facility" means: |
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(A) a freestanding emergency medical care |
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facility licensed under Chapter 254, Health and Safety Code; or |
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(B) a hospital that does not meet the conditions |
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of participation for certification under Title XVIII of the Social |
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Security Act (42 U.S.C. Section 1395 et seq.). |
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(b) For purposes of Section 17.46(a), the term "false, |
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misleading, or deceptive acts or practices" includes an emergency |
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facility that: |
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(1) provides emergency care at an unconscionable |
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price; or |
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(2) demands or charges an unconscionable price for or |
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in connection with emergency care or other care at the facility. |
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(c) The consumer protection division may not bring an action |
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under Section 17.47 for an act or practice described by Subsection |
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(b) if the price alleged to be unconscionable is less than 200 |
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percent of the average charge for the same or substantially similar |
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care provided to other individuals by emergency rooms of hospitals |
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located in the same county or nearest county in which the emergency |
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facility is located, as applicable, according to data collected by |
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the Department of State Health Services under Chapter 108, Health |
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and Safety Code, and made available to the division, except as |
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provided by Subsection (d). The consumer protection division may |
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not use data that includes prices for care provided in an urgent |
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care setting or physician practice to establish the division's |
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authority to investigate and pursue an action under this |
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subchapter. |
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(d) If the attorney general determines that the consumer |
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protection division is unable to obtain the charge data described |
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by Subsection (c), the attorney general may adopt rules designating |
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another source of hospital charge data for use by the division in |
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establishing the average charge for emergency care or other care |
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provided by hospital emergency rooms for purposes of Subsection |
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(c). |
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(e) In an action brought under Section 17.47 to enforce this |
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section, the consumer protection division may request, and the |
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trier of fact may award the recovery of: |
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(1) reasonable attorney's fees and court costs; and |
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(2) the reasonable expenses incurred by the division |
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in obtaining any remedy available under Section 17.47, including |
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the cost of investigation, witness fees, and deposition expenses. |
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(f) This section does not create a private cause of action |
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for a false, misleading, or deceptive act or practice described by |
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Subsection (b). |
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SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019. |
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* * * * * |