81R13377 TJS-F
By: Farrar H.B. No. 4251
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to claims and liens by certain health care providers.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 146.001(2), Civil Practice and Remedies
Code, is amended to read as follows:
(2) "Health care service provider" means a person who,
under a license or other grant of authority issued by this state,
provides health care services the costs of which may be paid for or
reimbursed under a health benefit plan. The term includes a
hospital or other organization or entity that provides health care
the costs of which may be paid for or reimbursed under a health
benefit plan.
SECTION 2. Section 146.003(a), Civil Practice and Remedies
Code, is amended to read as follows:
(a) Notwithstanding Chapter 55, Property Code, a [A] health
care service provider who violates Section 146.002 may not recover
from the patient directly or by way of a lien, assignment, or other
method from the proceeds of a patient's third-party tort judgment,
uninsured or underinsured motorist insurance, personal injury
protection insurance, or any amount that the patient would have
been entitled to receive as payment or reimbursement under a health
benefit plan or that the patient would not otherwise have been
obligated to pay had the provider complied with Section 146.002. A
lien filed under Chapter 55, Property Code, is subject to this
section.
SECTION 3. Section 55.002, Property Code, is amended by
adding Subsections (d) and (e) to read as follows:
(d) A hospital or emergency medical services provider must
bill the applicable health insurance, including Medicaid,
Medicare, a compensation to victims of crime fund or a compensation
to victims of crime auxiliary fund, workers' compensation, or other
public or private health insurance not later than the date provided
by the insurer or by applicable law. A hospital or emergency
medical services provider that violates this section or Section
146.002, Civil Practice and Remedies Code, may not recover from the
patient directly or by way of a lien, assignment, or other method
from the proceeds of a patient's third-party tort judgment,
uninsured or underinsured motorist insurance, personal injury
protection insurance, or any amount that the patient would have
been entitled to receive as payment or reimbursement under a health
benefit plan or that the patient would not otherwise have been
obligated to pay had the provider complied with this section or
Section 146.002, Civil Practice and Remedies Code.
(e) A patient's obligation to a hospital or emergency
medical services provider may not be assigned to an automobile
insurance coverage, including uninsured or underinsured motorist
coverage, personal injury protection coverage, or medical payments
coverage. A patient's obligation to a hospital or emergency
medical services provider may be assigned to the patient's health
insurance or employee welfare benefit plan.
SECTION 4. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to an action that accrues on or after the effective date of this
Act. An action that accrues before the effective date of this Act
is governed by the law as it existed immediately before that date,
and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 5. 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, 2009.