87R7117 BDP-D
By: Krause H.B. No. 3082
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to Medicaid fraud actions.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 36, Human Resources Code,
is amended by adding Section 36.0025 to read as follows:
Sec. 36.0025. MATERIALITY REQUIREMENT FOR UNLAWFUL ACTS.
To be actionable under this chapter, an unlawful act under Section
36.002 must be material to the state's decision regarding payment
under the Medicaid program.
SECTION 2. Section 36.052, Human Resources Code, is amended
by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (f) to read as
follows:
(a) Except as provided by Subsection (c), a person who
commits an unlawful act is liable to the state for:
(1) the damages resulting from [amount of] any payment
or [the value of any] monetary or in-kind benefit provided under the
Medicaid program, directly or indirectly, as a result of the
unlawful act, including any payment made to a third party;
(2) interest on the amount of the payment or the value
of the benefit described by Subdivision (1) at the prejudgment
interest rate in effect on the day the payment or benefit was
received or paid, for the period from the date the benefit was
received or paid to the date that the state recovers damages [the
amount of the payment or value of the benefit];
(3) a civil penalty of:
(A) not less than $5,500 or the minimum amount
imposed as provided by 31 U.S.C. Section 3729(a), if that amount
exceeds $5,500, and not more than $15,000 or the maximum amount
imposed as provided by 31 U.S.C. Section 3729(a), if that amount
exceeds $15,000, for each unlawful act committed by the person that
results in injury to an elderly person, as defined by Section
48.002(a)(1), a person with a disability, as defined by Section
48.002(a)(8)(A), or a person younger than 18 years of age; or
(B) not less than $5,500 or the minimum amount
imposed as provided by 31 U.S.C. Section 3729(a), if that amount
exceeds $5,500, and not more than $11,000 or the maximum amount
imposed as provided by 31 U.S.C. Section 3729(a), if that amount
exceeds $11,000, for each unlawful act committed by the person that
does not result in injury to a person described by Paragraph (A);
and
(4) two times the amount of the damages [payment or the
value of the benefit] described by Subdivision (1).
(f) Chapter 33, Civil Practice and Remedies Code, applies to
an action brought under this section.
SECTION 3. Subchapter B, Chapter 36, Human Resources Code,
is amended by adding Section 36.056 to read as follows:
Sec. 36.056. LIMITATIONS PERIOD. The attorney general may
not bring an action under this subchapter after the later of:
(1) the sixth anniversary of the date the unlawful act
was committed; or
(2) the third anniversary of the date when facts
material to the right of action are known or reasonably should have
been known by the person charged with responsibility to act in the
circumstances, except in no event may the action be brought later
than the 10th anniversary of the date the unlawful act was
committed.
SECTION 4. The changes in law made by this Act apply 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 as it existed immediately before the effective date of
this Act, and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.