86R11332 LED-D
By: Turner of Tarrant H.B. No. 3999
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to reimbursement for health care services provided to
certain first responders; creating a civil penalty.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subtitle G, Title 4, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by adding Chapter 327 to read as follows:
CHAPTER 327. PROVISION OF HEALTH CARE SERVICES TO FIRST RESPONDERS
Sec. 327.0001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
(1) "First responder" means law enforcement, fire
protection, or emergency medical services personnel who are
employed full-time by this state or a political subdivision of this
state.
(2) "Health care facility" means a hospital, an
outpatient facility, or a clinic. The term does not include a
physician's office.
Sec. 327.0002. APPLICABILITY. This chapter applies to the
health care services provided to:
(1) a first responder;
(2) a retired first responder who is younger than 65
years of age; and
(3) a qualified dependent of a first responder.
Sec. 327.0003. REIMBURSEMENT RATE FOR HEALTH CARE SERVICES.
A health care facility that provides a health care service to which
this chapter applies must accept as payment in full an amount equal
to the Medicare reimbursement rate for the service provided,
regardless of whether an individual, a health benefit plan issuer,
a third-party administrator, this state, or a political subdivision
of this state is responsible for the claim.
Sec. 327.0004. CIVIL PENALTY. (a) A health care facility
that fails to comply with Section 327.0003 or that refuses to
provide necessary medical treatment to a first responder that the
health care facility is otherwise capable of providing is liable to
the state for a civil penalty of $1,000 for each violation. Each
day of a continuing violation constitutes a separate violation.
(b) The attorney general may sue to collect the penalty.
(c) The attorney general shall file an action under this
section in a district court in Travis County or the county in which
the violation occurred.
(d) The attorney general may recover reasonable expenses
incurred in obtaining injunctive relief or a civil penalty under
this section, including court costs, attorney's fees,
investigative costs, witness fees, and deposition expenses.
SECTION 2. Chapter 327, Health and Safety Code, as added by
this Act, applies only to a service provided by a health care
facility on or after January 1, 2020. A service provided before
January 1, 2020, is governed by the law as it existed immediately
before the effective date of this Act, and that law is continued in
effect for that purpose.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.