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A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
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AN ACT
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relating to the authority of rural hospitals to establish a health |
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care collaborative. |
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BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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SECTION 1. Section 848.001, Insurance Code, is amended by |
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amending Subdivision (2) and adding Subdivision (10) to read as |
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follows: |
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(2) "Health care collaborative" means an entity: |
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(A) that undertakes to arrange for medical and |
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health care services for insurers, health maintenance |
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organizations, and other payors in exchange for payments in cash or |
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in kind; |
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(B) that accepts and distributes payments for |
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medical and health care services; |
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(C) that consists of: |
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(i) physicians; |
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(ii) rural hospitals; |
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(iii) physicians and other health care |
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providers; |
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(iv) [(iii)] physicians and insurers or |
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health maintenance organizations; or |
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(v) [(iv)] physicians, other health care |
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providers, and insurers or health maintenance organizations; and |
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(D) that is certified by the commissioner under |
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this chapter to lawfully accept and distribute payments to |
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physicians and other health care providers using the reimbursement |
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methodologies authorized by this chapter. |
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(10) "Rural hospital" means a licensed hospital with |
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75 beds or fewer that: |
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(A) is located in a county with a population of |
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50,000 or less; or |
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(B) has been designated by the Centers for |
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Medicare and Medicaid Services as a critical access hospital, rural |
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referral center, or sole community hospital. |
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SECTION 2. Section 848.052, Insurance Code, is amended by |
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adding Subsection (c-1) to read as follows: |
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(c-1) If the participants in a health care collaborative are |
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all rural hospitals, each member of the board of directors must be a |
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representative of a participant. |
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SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives |
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a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as |
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provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this |
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Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this |
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Act takes effect September 1, 2019. |