Texas 2019 - 86th Regular

Texas House Bill HB1941 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New		Differences
1		-	H.B. No. 1941
	1	+	By: Phelan, et al. (Senate Sponsor - Watson) H.B. No. 1941
	2	+	(In the Senate - Received from the House May 8, 2019;
	3	+	May 10, 2019, read first time and referred to Committee on Business &
	4	+	Commerce; May 17, 2019, reported adversely, with favorable
	5	+	Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 6, Nays 1;
	6	+	May 17, 2019, sent to printer.)
	7	+	Click here to see the committee vote
	8	+	COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR H.B. No. 1941 By: Nichols
2	9
3	10
	11	+	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
4	12		AN ACT
5	13		relating to unconscionable prices charged by certain health care
6	14		facilities for medical care.
7	15		BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
8	16		SECTION 1. Subchapter E, Chapter 17, Business & Commerce
9	17		Code, is amended by adding Section 17.464 to read as follows:
10	18		Sec. 17.464. UNCONSCIONABLE PRICE FOR CARE AT EMERGENCY
11	19		FACILITY. (a) In this section:
12	20		(1) "Emergency care" means health care services
13	21		provided in an emergency facility to evaluate and stabilize medical
14	22		conditions of a recent onset and severity, including severe pain,
15	23		that would lead a prudent layperson possessing an average knowledge
16	24		of medicine and health to believe that the individual's condition,
17	25		sickness, or injury is of such a nature that failure to get
18	26		immediate medical care could:
19	27		(A) place the individual's health in serious
20	28		jeopardy;
21	29		(B) result in serious impairment to bodily
22	30		functions;
23	31		(C) result in serious dysfunction of a bodily
24	32		organ or part;
25	33		(D) result in serious disfigurement; or
26	34		(E) for a pregnant woman, result in serious
27	35		jeopardy to the health of the fetus.
28		-	(2) "Emergency facility":
29		-	(A) means:
30		-	(i) a freestanding emergency medical care
	36	+	(2) "Emergency facility" means:
	37	+	(A) a freestanding emergency medical care
31	38		facility licensed under Chapter 254, Health and Safety Code; or
32		-	(ii) a hospital that does not meet the
33		-	conditions of participation for certification under Title XVIII of
34		-	the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. Section 1395 et seq.); and
35		-	(B) does not include a hospital that:
36		-	(i) has been operating as a hospital for
37		-	less than one year;
38		-	(ii) has submitted an application to a
39		-	federally recognized accreditation program for certification under
40		-	Title XVIII of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. Section 1395 et
41		-	seq.); and
42		-	(iii) has not failed an accreditation for
43		-	certification.
	39	+	(B) a hospital that does not meet the conditions
	40	+	of participation for certification under Title XVIII of the Social
	41	+	Security Act (42 U.S.C. Section 1395 et seq.).
44	42		(b) For purposes of Section 17.46(a), the term "false,
45	43		misleading, or deceptive acts or practices" includes an emergency
46	44		facility that:
47	45		(1) provides emergency care at an unconscionable
48	46		price; or
49	47		(2) demands or charges an unconscionable price for or
50	48		in connection with emergency care or other care at the facility.
51	49		(c) The consumer protection division may not bring an action
52	50		under Section 17.47 for an act or practice described by Subsection
53	51		(b) if the price alleged to be unconscionable is less than 200
54	52		percent of the average charge for the same or substantially similar
55	53		care provided to other individuals by emergency rooms of hospitals
56	54		located in the same county or nearest county in which the emergency
57	55		facility is located, as applicable, according to data collected by
58	56		the Department of State Health Services under Chapter 108, Health
59	57		and Safety Code, and made available to the division, except as
60	58		provided by Subsection (d). The consumer protection division may
61	59		not use data that includes prices for care provided in an urgent
62	60		care setting or physician practice to establish the division's
63	61		authority to investigate and pursue an action under this
64	62		subchapter.
65	63		(d) If the attorney general determines that the consumer
66	64		protection division is unable to obtain the charge data described
67	65		by Subsection (c), the attorney general may adopt rules designating
68	66		another source of hospital charge data for use by the division in
69	67		establishing the average charge for emergency care or other care
70	68		provided by hospital emergency rooms for purposes of Subsection
71	69		(c).
72	70		(e) In an action brought under Section 17.47 to enforce this
73	71		section, the consumer protection division may request, and the
74	72		trier of fact may award the recovery of:
75	73		(1) reasonable attorney's fees and court costs; and
76	74		(2) the reasonable expenses incurred by the division
77	75		in obtaining any remedy available under Section 17.47, including
78	76		the cost of investigation, witness fees, and deposition expenses.
79	77		(f) This section does not create a private cause of action
80	78		for a false, misleading, or deceptive act or practice described by
81	79		Subsection (b).
82	80		SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.
83		-	______________________________ ______________________________
84		-	President of the Senate Speaker of the House
85		-	I certify that H.B. No. 1941 was passed by the House on May 8,
86		-	2019, by the following vote: Yeas 147, Nays 0, 1 present, not
87		-	voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.
88		-	No. 1941 on May 24, 2019, by the following vote: Yeas 141, Nays 1,
89		-	2 present, not voting.
90		-	______________________________
91		-	Chief Clerk of the House
92		-	I certify that H.B. No. 1941 was passed by the Senate, with
93		-	amendments, on May 22, 2019, by the following vote: Yeas 30, Nays
94		-	1.
95		-	______________________________
96		-	Secretary of the Senate
97		-	APPROVED: __________________
98		-	Date
99		-	__________________
100		-	Governor
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