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A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
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AN ACT
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relating to the establishment of a grant program to allow the Nueces |
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County Hospital District to recruit and retain certain medical |
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professionals. |
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BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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SECTION 1. Section 281.094(b), Health and Safety Code, is |
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amended to read as follows: |
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(b) The board of the Nueces County Hospital District may use |
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funds made available to the district from any source to fund: |
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(1) indigent health care; [and] |
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(2) intergovernmental transfers from the district to |
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the state for use as the nonfederal share of Medicaid supplemental |
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payment program or waiver program payments for eligible health care |
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providers located inside or outside the district's boundaries, |
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including, but not limited to, any payments available through a |
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waiver granted under Section 1115, Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. |
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Section 1315), or other similar payment programs, subject to the |
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limitation prescribed by Subsection (c); and |
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(3) the grant program established under Section |
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281.0941. |
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SECTION 2. Subchapter E, Chapter 281, Health and Safety |
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Code, is amended by adding Section 281.0941 to read as follows: |
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Sec. 281.0941. NUECES COUNTY HOSPITAL DISTRICT GRANT |
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PROGRAM. (a) The board of the Nueces County Hospital District |
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shall establish and administer a grant program for hospitals |
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located in the hospital district to provide the funding necessary |
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to: |
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(1) allow hospitals in the district to: |
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(A) retain physicians currently practicing at |
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those hospitals; and |
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(B) recruit physicians who practice medicine in a |
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specialty for which there is limited access in the hospital |
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district to practice at those hospitals; and |
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(2) increase the number of residency positions at |
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hospitals in the district. |
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(b) The board of the hospital district shall: |
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(1) prescribe the manner in which a hospital in the |
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district may apply for a grant under this section; |
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(2) establish eligibility and selection criteria for a |
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hospital to be awarded a grant under this section; and |
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(3) establish accountability controls for hospitals |
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awarded a grant under this section to ensure: |
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(A) the grant is used in a manner that is |
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consistent with the public purpose of providing medical and |
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hospital care for the indigent residents of the district; and |
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(B) the district receives a benefit in return for |
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the award of the grant. |
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SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025. |