HBA-NMO H.B. 2565 76(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 2565 By: Christian Public Health 3/25/99 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Current law requires county hospitals to provide health care assistance to indigent patients. Patients from adjacent counties often obtain health care at certain county hospitals. These patients are instructed to file the required paperwork upon their release with their county of residence so that the county may arrange payment to the hospital. If a patient does not file the paperwork, it may be difficult for the hospital to obtain payment. H.B. 2565 authorizes a county hospital or hospital district to obtain information from certain indigent patients to permit the county hospital or hospital district to submit a claim to the county that is liable for payment for health care services rendered to that patient. This bill also requires the Texas Department of Health to study the feasibility of the issuance of identification cards for the purpose of delivering indigent health care. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Subchapter B, Chapter 61, Health and Safety Code, by adding Section 61.0335, as follows: Sec. 61.0335. SERVICES PROVIDED BY PUBLIC HOSPITAL OR HOSPITAL DISTRICT; INFORMATION NECESSARY TO DETERMINE ELIGIBILITY IN COUNTY. (a) Authorizes a public hospital or hospital district that provides health care services to a patient who the public hospital or hospital district suspects is an eligible county resident (an eligible resident of a county who does not reside in the service area of a public hospital or hospital district) for which a county is liable for health care services under Section 61.033 (Payment for Services) to require the patient to provide any information necessary to establish that the person is an eligible county resident; and authorize the release of information relating to the patient, including medical information and eligibility information, to permit the public hospital or hospital district to submit a claim to the county that is liable under Section 61.033. (b) Requires a county that receives information under Subsection (a) to use the information to determine whether the person to whom services were provided is an eligible county resident and, if so, require the county to pay the claim made by the public health hospital or hospital district in accordance with this subchapter (County Responsibility for Persons Not Residing in an Area Served by a Public Hospital or Hospital District). (c) Authorizes the application, documentation, and verification procedures established by the Texas Department of Health (TDH) for counties under Section 61.006 (Standards and Procedures) to include a standard format for obtaining information under Subsection (a) to facilitate eligibility and residence determinations. SECTION 2. Requires TDH to study the feasibility of requiring or permitting each county, public hospital, and hospital district to issue an identification card to an eligible county resident or eligible service area resident, as appropriate, that identifies the resident as eligible for health care assistance under Chapter 61 (Indigent Health Care and Treatment Act), Health and Safety Code. Requires TDH, not later than December 15, 2000, to report the results of its study to the governor, lieutenant governor, and the speaker of the house of representatives. SECTION 3.Emergency clause. Effective date: upon passage.