S.B. No. 303
AN ACT
relating to health care services provided or paid by certain
hospital districts.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 61.066, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:
(c) A hospital district may recover, from the eligible
resident perpetrating a fraud, an amount equal to the value of any
fraudulently obtained health care services provided to the eligible
resident disqualified under this section.
SECTION 2. Subchapter C, Chapter 61, Health and Safety
Code, is amended by adding Section 61.067 to read as follows:
Sec. 61.067. LIEN BY NON-PROVIDER HOSPITAL DISTRICT.
(a) This section applies to a hospital district that does not
operate a hospital.
(b) After the hospital district pays the providing hospital
for the actual cost of the service, the district may file a lien on a
tort cause of action or claim of an eligible resident who receives
health care services for injuries caused by an accident that is
attributed to the negligence of another person.
(c) A person who applies for or receives health care
services shall inform the hospital district, at the time of
application or at any time during eligibility for services, of:
(1) any unsettled tort claim that may affect medical
needs;
(2) any private accident or health insurance coverage
that is or may become available; and
(3) any injury that is caused by the act or failure to
act of some other person.
(d) An applicant or eligible resident shall inform the
hospital district of information required by Subsection (c) within
30 days of the date the person learns of the person's insurance
coverage, tort claim, or potential cause of action.
(e) A claim for damages for personal injury does not
constitute grounds for denying or discontinuing services under this
chapter.
(f)(1) A lien under this chapter attaches to:
(A) a tort cause of action for damages arising
from an injury for which the injured eligible resident receives
health care services;
(B) a judgment of a court in this state or the
decision of a public agency in a proceeding brought by the eligible
resident or by another person entitled to bring the suit in case of
the death of the eligible resident to recover tort damages arising
from an injury for which the eligible resident receives health care
services; and
(C) the proceeds of a settlement of a tort cause
of action or a tort claim by the eligible resident or another person
entitled to make the claim, arising from an injury for which the
eligible resident receives health care services.
(2) If the eligible resident has health insurance, the
providing hospital is obligated to timely bill the applicable
health insurer in accordance with Chapter 146, Civil Practice and
Remedies Code.
(g) The lien does not attach to a claim under the workers'
compensation law of this state, the Federal Employees Liability
Act, or the Federal Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act.
(h) A hospital district's lien established under Subsection
(b) is for the amount actually paid by the hospital district for
services provided to the eligible resident for health care services
caused by an accident that is attributed to the negligence of
another person.
(i) To secure the lien, a hospital district must file
written notice of the lien with the county clerk of the county in
which the services were provided. The notice must be filed and
indexed before money is paid by the third-party liability insurer.
The notice must contain:
(1) the injured individual's name and address;
(2) the date of the accident;
(3) the name and location of the hospital district
claiming the lien; and
(4) the name of the person alleged to be liable for
damages arising from the injury, if known.
(j) The county clerk shall record the name of the injured
individual, the date of the accident, and the name and address of
the hospital district and shall index the record in the name of the
injured individual.
(k) The procedures set forth in Sections 55.006 and 55.007,
Property Code, for discharging and releasing the lien shall apply
to liens filed under this section.
(l) Procedures established by a hospital district for
administrative hearings under this section shall provide for
appropriate due process, including procedures for appeals.
SECTION 3. Subchapter B, Chapter 281, Health and Safety
Code, is amended by adding Section 281.0286 to read as follows:
Sec. 281.0286. TARRANT COUNTY HOSPITAL DISTRICT;
EMPLOYMENT OF PHYSICIANS. (a) The board of the Tarrant County
Hospital District may appoint, contract for, or employ physicians
as the board considers necessary for the efficient operation of the
district.
(b) The term of an employment contract entered into under
this section may not exceed four years.
(c) This section may not be construed as authorizing the
board of the Tarrant County Hospital District to supervise or
control the practice of medicine, as prohibited by Subtitle B,
Title 3, Occupations Code.
(d) The authority granted to the board of the Tarrant County
Hospital District under Subsection (a) to employ physicians shall
apply as necessary for the district to fulfill the district's
statutory mandate to provide medical care for the indigent and
needy residents of the district as provided by Section 281.046.
(e) The medical executive committee of the Tarrant County
Hospital District shall adopt, maintain, and enforce policies to
ensure that a physician employed by the district exercises the
physician's independent medical judgment in providing care to
patients.
(f) The policies adopted by the medical executive committee
under this section must include:
(1) policies relating to:
(A) governance of the medical executive
committee;
(B) credentialing;
(C) quality assurance;
(D) utilization review;
(E) peer review;
(F) medical decision-making; and
(G) due process; and
(2) rules requiring the disclosure of financial
conflicts of interest by a member of the medical executive
committee.
(g) The medical executive committee and the board of the
Tarrant County Hospital District shall jointly develop and
implement a conflict management process to resolve any conflict
between a policy adopted by the medical executive committee under
this section and a policy of the Tarrant County Hospital District.
(h) A member of the medical executive committee who is a
physician shall provide biennially to the chair of the medical
executive committee a signed, verified statement indicating that
the member of the medical executive committee:
(1) is licensed by the Texas Medical Board;
(2) will exercise independent medical judgment in all
medical executive committee matters, including matters relating
to:
(A) credentialing;
(B) quality assurance;
(C) utilization review;
(D) peer review;
(E) medical decision-making; and
(F) due process;
(3) will exercise the committee member's best efforts
to ensure compliance with the policies that are adopted or
established by the medical executive committee; and
(4) will report immediately to the Texas Medical Board
any action or event that the committee member reasonably and in good
faith believes constitutes a compromise of the independent medical
judgment of a physician in caring for a patient.
(i) For all matters relating to the practice of medicine,
each physician employed by the Tarrant County Hospital District
shall ultimately report to the chair of the medical executive
committee for the district.
SECTION 4. This Act applies only to the filing of an
application for services or receipt of services as described by
Section 61.067, Health and Safety Code, as added by this Act, on or
after the effective date of this Act. The filing of an application
for services or receipt of services before the effective date of
this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date of filing or
receipt of services, and the former law is continued in effect for
that purpose.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 303 passed the Senate on
May 9, 2011, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0; and that the
Senate concurred in House amendment on May 27, 2011, by the
following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 303 passed the House, with
amendment, on May 24, 2011, by the following vote: Yeas 144,
Nays 1, three present not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
Approved:
______________________________
Date
______________________________
Governor