87R1047 SCL-F
By: Bonnen H.B. No. 1617
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to recovery of medical or health care expenses in civil
actions.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 41.0105, Civil Practice and Remedies
Code, is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 41.0105. EVIDENCE RELATING TO AMOUNT OF ECONOMIC
DAMAGES. (a) In addition to any other limitation under law,
recovery of medical or health care expenses incurred is limited to
the amount actually paid or incurred by or on behalf of the
claimant.
(b) Subject to Subsection (a), a party in an action in which
a claimant seeks recovery of medical or health care expenses may
introduce evidence of the reasonableness of the amount charged for
medical or health care services provided to the claimant,
including:
(1) the amount actually paid for the medical or health
care services provided to the claimant, unless there is a formal or
informal agreement that the medical or health care provider will
wholly or partly refund, rebate, or remit the amount paid to the
payer or another person, in which case the amount actually paid is
not admissible in evidence;
(2) the amount billed by the medical or health care
provider for the medical or health care services provided to the
claimant;
(3) the amount paid, the amount that would have been
paid, or the amount likely to be paid for the medical or health care
services provided to the claimant by a health benefit plan,
workers' compensation insurance, an employer-provided plan,
Medicaid, Medicare, or another similar source available to pay for
services provided to the claimant at the time the services were
provided or available to pay for the services after the services
were provided, as applicable;
(4) the average amount typically paid or allowed by
health benefit plan issuers or governmental payers at or near the
time the medical or health care services were provided to the
claimant to medical or health care providers who:
(A) are located in the same geographic area as
the medical or health care provider who provided the services to the
claimant; and
(B) offer the same type of medical or health care
services as the services provided to the claimant; or
(5) the average of the amounts actually accepted for
payment in the previous 12 months by the medical or health care
provider who provided medical or health care services to the
claimant for the same services provided to patients other than the
claimant.
SECTION 2. Section 41.0105, Civil Practice and Remedies
Code, as amended by this Act, applies only to an action commenced on
or after the effective date of this Act. An action commenced before
the effective date of this Act is governed by the law applicable to
the action 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, 2021.