HBA-MPM S.B. 830 76(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisS.B. 830 By: Madla Public Health 5/2/1999 Engrossed BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE On September 18, 1997, Lieutenant Governor Bob Bullock issued a supplemental charge to the Interim Committee on Health and Human Services (committee) to study current practices in patient billing by Texas hospitals and providers of health care to evaluate the accuracy, clarity, and timeliness of patient billing. The committee found that current practices in patient billing by hospitals and health care providers is not adequate. A patient bill uses codes and acronyms which are not explained; lists dates that do not correspond to actual dates of treatment; and provides no information on contact persons who could answer questions on a bill. S.B. 830 requires specific information to be included in a patient bill and establishes minimum requirements for an itemized statement of billed services. 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 Section 241.154(d), Health and Safety Code, to make a conforming change. SECTION 2. Amends Section 311.002, Health and Safety Code, as follows: Sec. 311.002. ITEMIZED STATEMENT OF BILLED SERVICES. Requires each hospital to develop, implement, and enforce a written billing policy of hospital services and supplies. Provides that the policy must include a periodic review of the itemized statements required by Subsection (b) and a procedure for handling complaints relating to billed services. Requires a hospital to provide on request, rather than have available, an itemized statement of the billed services provided to a person no later that the 30th, rather than 10th, business day after the date of the person's discharge. Provides that the statement must: _be printed in a conspicuous manner; _list the date services and supplies were provided; _state whether a claim has been submitted to a third party payor and if the payor has paid the claim; _if payment is not required, state that payment is not required in a bold-faced, capitalized, underlined or otherwise predominant typeface or by other reasonable means to indicate that payment is not required; and _contain the telephone number of the facility to call for certain questions regarding the bill. Redesignates existing Subsections (b)-(h) to Subsections (c)-(i). SECTION 3. Effective date: September 1, 1999. Makes application of this Act prospective. SECTION 4. Emergency clause.