S.B. No. 790
AN ACT
relating to county and municipal authority to balance bill for
county or municipal air or ground ambulance services and to a study
regarding billing by ground ambulance service providers.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 113.902(a), Local Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) Except as provided by Section 140.013, the [The] county
treasurer shall direct prosecution for the recovery of any debt
owed to the county, as provided by law, and shall supervise the
collection of the debt.
SECTION 2. Chapter 140, Local Government Code, is amended
by adding Section 140.013 to read as follows:
Sec. 140.013. BALANCE BILLING FOR COUNTY AND MUNICIPAL
AMBULANCE SERVICES. (a) "Balance billing" means the practice of
charging an enrollee in a health benefit plan to recover from the
enrollee the balance of a health care provider's fee for a service
received by the enrollee from the health care provider that is not
fully reimbursed by the enrollee's health benefit plan.
(b) A county or municipality may elect to consider a health
benefit plan payment towards a claim for air or ground ambulance
services provided by the county or municipality as payment in full
for those services regardless of the amount the county or
municipality charged for those services.
(c) A county or municipality may not practice balance
billing for a claim for which the county or municipality makes an
election under Subsection (b).
SECTION 3. (a) In this section, "department" means the
Texas Department of Insurance.
(b) The department shall conduct a study on the balance
billing practices of ground ambulance service providers, the
variations in prices for ground ambulance services, the proportion
of ground ambulances that are in-network, trends in network
inclusion, and factors contributing to the network status of ground
ambulances. The department may seek the assistance of the
Department of State Health Services in conducting the study.
(c) Not later than December 1, 2022, the department shall
provide a written report of the results of the study conducted under
Subsection (b) of this section to the governor, lieutenant
governor, speaker of the house of representatives, and members of
the standing committees of the legislature with primary
jurisdiction over the department.
(d) This section expires September 1, 2023.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 790 passed the Senate on
April 9, 2021, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0; and that the
Senate concurred in House amendments on May 28, 2021, by the
following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 790 passed the House, with
amendments, on May 25, 2021, by the following vote: Yeas 117,
Nays 26, two present not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
Approved:
______________________________
Date
______________________________
Governor