By: Nelson S.B. No. 746
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to unlawful acts against and criminal offenses involving
the Medicaid program.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 36.002(9) and (12), Human Resources
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(9) conspires to commit a violation of subsection (1),
(2), (3), (4), (5), (6), (7), (8), (10), (11), (12), or (13)
[knowingly enters into an agreement, combination, or conspiracy to
defraud the state by obtaining or aiding another person in
obtaining an unauthorized payment or benefit from the Medicaid
program or a fiscal agent];
(12) knowingly makes, uses, or causes the making or
use of a false record or statement material to [conceal, avoid, or
decrease] an obligation to pay or transmit money or property to this
state under the Medicaid program, or knowingly conceals or
knowingly and improperly avoids or decreases an obligation to pay
or transmit money or property to this state under the Medicaid
program; or
(13) knowingly engages in conduct that constitutes a
violation under Section 32.039(b).
SECTION 2. Section 36.104(b), Human Resources Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(b) If the state declines to take over the action, the
person bringing the action may proceed without the state's
participation. On request by the state, the state is entitled to be
served with copies of all pleadings filed in the action and be
provided at the state's expense with copies of all deposition
transcripts. If the person bringing the action proceeds without
the state's participation, the court, without limiting the status
and right of that person, may permit the state to intervene at a
later date on a showing of good cause. A person pursuing an action
under this subsection may file suit for claims that accrued on or
after September 1, 1995, the effective date of this Statute.
SECTION 3. Sections 36.110(b) and (c), Human Resources
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(b) If the court finds that the action is based primarily on
disclosures of specific information, other than information
provided by the person bringing the action, relating to allegations
or transactions in a state criminal or civil hearing, in a state
legislative or administrative report, hearing, audit, or
investigation, or from the news media, the court may award the
amount the court considers appropriate but not more than 10 [seven]
percent of the proceeds of the action. The court shall consider the
significance of the information and the role of the person bringing
the action in advancing the case to litigation.
(c) A payment to a person under this section shall be made
from the proceeds of the action. A person receiving a payment under
this section is also entitled to receive from the defendant an
amount for reasonable expenses, reasonable attorney's fees, and
costs that the court finds to have been necessarily incurred. The
court's determination of expenses, fees, and costs to be awarded
under this subsection shall be made only after the defendant has
been found liable in the action or the claim is settled [state
settles an action with a defendant that the court determined, after
a hearing, was fair, adequate, and reasonable in accordance with
Section 36.107(c)].
SECTION 4. Section 36.113(b), Human Resources Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(b) The court shall dismiss [A person may not bring]an
action or claim under this subchapter, unless opposed by the
attorney general, if substantially the same [that is based on the
public disclosure of] allegations or transactions as alleged in the
action or claim were publicly disclosed in a state criminal or civil
hearing in which the state or an agent of the state is a party, in a
state legislative or administrative report, or other state hearing,
audit, or investigation, or from the news media, unless the person
bringing the action is an original source of the information. In
this subsection, "original source" means an individual who:
(1) prior to a public disclosure under this
subsection, has voluntarily disclosed to the state the information
on which allegations or transactions in a claim are based [had
direct and independent knowledge of the information on which the
allegations are based and has voluntarily provided the information
to the state before filing an action under this subchapter that is
based on the information]; or
(2) has knowledge that is independent of and
materially adds to the publicly disclosed allegation[s] or
transactions who has voluntarily provided the information to the
state before filing an action under this subchapter [that is based
on the information].
SECTION 5. Section 36.115, Human Resources Code, is amended
by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (c) to read as
follows:
(a) A person, including an employee, contractor, or agent,
who is discharged, demoted, suspended, threatened, harassed, or in
any other manner discriminated against in the terms and conditions
of employment because of a lawful act taken by the person or
associated others in furtherance of an action under this
subchapter, including investigation for, initiation of, testimony
for, or assistance in an action filed or to be filed under this
subchapter, or other efforts taken by the person to stop one or more
violations of Section 36.002 is entitled to:
(1) reinstatement with the same seniority status the
person would have had but for the discrimination; and
(2) not less than two times the amount of back pay,
interest on the back pay, and compensation for any special damages
sustained as a result of the discrimination, including litigation
costs and reasonable attorney's fees.
(c) A person must bring suit on an action under this section
not later than the third anniversary of the date on which the cause
of action accrues. For purposes of this section, the cause of
action accrues on the date the retaliation occurs.
SECTION 6. Section 36.113(c), Human Resources Code, is
repealed.
SECTION 7. (a) The changes in law made by this Act to
Section 36.002, Human Resources Code, apply only to conduct that
occurs on or after the effective date of this Act. Conduct that
occurs before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law
in effect at the time the conduct occurred, and that law is
continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 8. The changes in law made by this Act to Sections
36.110 and 36.113, Human Resources Code, apply only to a civil
action for a violation of Section 36.002, Human Resources Code, as
amended by this Act, commenced on or after the effective date of
this Act. A civil action commenced before the effective date of
this Act is governed by the law in effect immediately before the
effective date of this Act, and that law is continued in effect for
that purpose.
SECTION 9. The changes in law made by this Act to Section
36.115, Human Resources Code, apply only to a cause of action that
accrues on or after the effective date of this Act. A cause of
action that accrued before the effective date of this Act is
governed by the law applicable to the case of action immediately
before the effective date of this Act, and that law is continued in
effect for that purpose.
SECTION 10. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.