LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD
Austin, Texas
 
FISCAL NOTE, 88TH LEGISLATIVE REGULAR SESSION
 
April 16, 2023

TO:
Honorable Lois W. Kolkhorst, Chair, Senate Committee on Health & Human Services
 
FROM:
Jerry McGinty, Director, Legislative Budget Board
 
IN RE:
SB1024 by Kolkhorst (relating to preventative health care and public health, including prohibited immunization and face-covering requirements and private business or school closures.), Committee Report 1st House, Substituted

No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.

The bill would require the Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) to disenroll facilities from Medicaid and prohibit Medicaid reimbursements to facilities that violate Section 8. According to HHSC, technology modifications and contract amendments may be needed.

According to HHSC, Section 8 could limit the ability for HHSC-Medicaid CHIP Services (MCS) and Medicaid Managed Care Organizations (MCOs) to contract with medical facilities and pharmacies that have prevention and control policies, which could limit Medicaid member access to providers. 

According to HHSC, an additional 1.0 full-time equivalent (FTE) under HHSC-Health Care Regulation (HCR) would be needed to update rules, issue guidance to applicable HCR-regulated providers, provide technical assistance to providers, create an internal memo, train internal staff on the bill's provisions and the rules adopted to implement the bill, and update compliance staff's operational processes and procedures to ensure a facility's compliance with the bill's provisions. HCR compliance would need to inspect and investigate any complaints related to the bill's content, and HCR quality assurance would need to review any citations in preparation for routing to enforcement.

It is assumed that any costs associated with the bill could be absorbed using existing resources.

Local Government Impact

No significant fiscal implication to units of local government is anticipated.


Source Agencies:
304 Comptroller of Public Accounts, 320 Texas Workforce Commission, 503 Texas Medical Board, 529 Health and Human Services Commission, 537 State Health Services, Department of, 701 Texas Education Agency
LBB Staff:
JMc, NPe, ER, APA