TO:	Honorable Stephanie Klick, Chair, House Committee on Public Health
FROM:	Jerry McGinty, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:	HB248 by Murr (Relating to solicitation of patients and other prohibited marketing practices and the establishment of the task force on patient solicitation; increasing criminal penalties.), As Introduced

The bill would expand the conduct constituting certain offenses relating to health care patient solicitation to include a person accepting or providing a benefit or commission to secure or solicit a patient or patronage. The bill would also increase the penalty for such offenses by one penalty level which would result in them ranging from a Class B misdemeanor to a second degree felony depending on the health practice, previous convictions, or if the person was employed by a governmental entity at the time of the offense.

Increasing the penalty for an existing offense may result in additional demands upon state and local correctional resources due to a possible increase in the number of individuals placed under supervision in the community or sentenced to a term of confinement.