By: Perry  S.B. No. 270
         (In the Senate - Filed December 29, 2020; March 3, 2021,
  read first time and referred to Committee on State Affairs;
  March 17, 2021, reported favorably by the following vote:  Yeas 9,
  Nays 0; March 17, 2021, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
 
  relating to civil liability of a nursing facility resident's
  responsible payor for misappropriation of the resident's funds.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Subchapter A, Chapter 242, Health and Safety
  Code, is amended by adding Section 242.020 to read as follows:
         Sec. 242.020.  CIVIL LIABILITY RELATED TO MISAPPROPRIATION
  OF RESIDENT'S FUNDS. (a) In this section:
               (1)  "Misappropriate" means the taking, secretion,
  misapplication, deprivation, transfer, or attempted transfer to
  any person not entitled to receive any real or personal property or
  anything of value belonging to or under the legal control of a
  resident without the effective consent of the resident or other
  appropriate legal authority.
               (2)  "Responsible payor" means a person who:
                     (A)  has legal access to the resident's income or
  resources available to pay for nursing facility care; and
                     (B)  has signed an admission agreement or other
  contract with the facility in which the person agrees to provide
  payment for the resident's facility care from the resident's income
  or resources.
         (b)  A nursing facility may file an action against a
  resident's responsible payor for an amount owed by the resident to
  the facility if:
               (1)  before admission of the resident, the facility
  obtains financial information from the resident or responsible
  payor demonstrating the amount of financial resources that the
  resident has available to pay for nursing facility care; and
               (2)  after the resident begins to reside at the
  facility, the responsible payor misappropriates the resident's
  resources to a degree that the resident is unable to afford to pay
  for the resident's care.
         (c)  A nursing facility may file an action for injunctive
  relief against a resident's responsible payor who engages in
  conduct described by Subsection (b).  The court may grant any
  appropriate injunctive relief to prevent or abate the conduct,
  including a temporary restraining order, temporary injunction, or
  permanent injunction.
         (d)  Subject to Subsection (e), the prevailing party in an
  action filed under this section may recover attorney's fees.
         (e)  In an action filed under this section, a nursing
  facility may not recover a total amount, including damages and
  attorney's fees, that exceeds the amount the responsible payor has
  misappropriated from the resident.
         SECTION 2.  Section 242.020, Health and Safety Code, as
  added by this Act, applies only to a cause of action that accrues on
  or after the effective date of this Act.
         SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.
 
  * * * * *