| |
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
|
relating to the disclosure of health care cost information by |
|
|
certain health care facilities; imposing an administrative |
|
|
penalty. |
|
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
|
SECTION 1. Section 327.001(7), Health and Safety Code, is |
|
|
amended to read as follows: |
|
|
(7) "Facility" means: |
|
|
(A) a hospital, including: |
|
|
(i) a general hospital; |
|
|
(ii) a special hospital; |
|
|
(iii) a mental hospital; |
|
|
(iv) a hospital that operates a crisis |
|
|
stabilization unit; |
|
|
(v) a limited services rural hospital; or |
|
|
(vi) a hospital operating under a |
|
|
certificate of public advantage under Chapter 314 or 314A; |
|
|
(B) an abortion facility; |
|
|
(C) an ambulatory surgical center; |
|
|
(D) a birthing center; |
|
|
(E) a chemical dependency treatment facility; |
|
|
(F) an end stage renal disease facility; |
|
|
(G) a freestanding emergency medical care |
|
|
facility; |
|
|
(H) a narcotic drug treatment program; or |
|
|
(I) a special care facility [licensed under |
|
|
Chapter 241]. |
|
|
SECTION 2. Chapter 327, Health and Safety Code, is amended |
|
|
by adding Section 327.0015 to read as follows: |
|
|
Sec. 327.0015. APPLICABILITY. This chapter applies only to |
|
|
a facility with a total gross revenue of $7 million or more. |
|
|
SECTION 3. Sections 327.008(a), (c), and (d), Health and |
|
|
Safety Code, are amended to read as follows: |
|
|
(a) The commission may impose an administrative penalty on a |
|
|
facility [in accordance with Chapter 241] if the facility fails to: |
|
|
(1) respond to the commission's request to submit a |
|
|
corrective action plan; or |
|
|
(2) comply with the requirements of a corrective |
|
|
action plan submitted to the commission. |
|
|
(c) For a facility with one of the following total gross |
|
|
revenues [as reported to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid |
|
|
Services or to another entity designated by commission rule in the |
|
|
year preceding the year in which a penalty is imposed], the penalty |
|
|
imposed by the commission may not exceed: |
|
|
(1) [$10 for each day the facility violated this |
|
|
chapter, if the facility's total gross revenue is less than |
|
|
$10,000,000; |
|
|
[(2)] $100 for each day the facility violated this |
|
|
chapter, if the facility's total gross revenue is $7,000,000 |
|
|
[$10,000,000] or more and less than $100,000,000; and |
|
|
(2) [(3)] $1,000 for each day the facility violated |
|
|
this chapter, if the facility's total gross revenue is $100,000,000 |
|
|
or more. |
|
|
(d) Each day a violation continues is considered a separate |
|
|
violation. A cumulative administrative penalty may not exceed the |
|
|
applicable daily amount provided by Subsection (c). |
|
|
SECTION 4. A health care facility required to disclose |
|
|
billing information as a result of the amendment to Chapter 327, |
|
|
Health and Safety Code, by this Act is not required to disclose |
|
|
information in accordance with that chapter until August 31, 2029. |
|
|
SECTION 5. Section 327.008, Health and Safety Code, as |
|
|
amended by this Act, applies only to a violation that occurs on or |
|
|
after the effective date of this Act. A violation that occurs |
|
|
before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law as it |
|
|
existed on the date the violation occurred, and that law is |
|
|
continued in effect for that purpose. |
|
|
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives |
|
|
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as |
|
|
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this |
|
|
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this |
|
|
Act takes effect September 1, 2025. |