Bill > HB3348

This bill creates a County Health Care Provider Participation Program for specific counties in Texas, allowing county commissioners courts to collect mandatory payments from nonpublic hospitals (called "institutional health care providers") to fund Medicaid-related programs. The bill applies only to certain counties meeting specific population and geographic requirements, such as counties near the state capital, counties with populations over 900,000, or counties with populations over one million. Under the program, counties can collect up to 6% of a hospital's net patient revenue quarterly, which must be deposited into a local provider participation fund. These funds can only be used for specific purposes, primarily to provide the non-federal share of Medicaid payments for uncompensated care, rate enhancements, or other directed payment programs for nonpublic hospitals. The bill includes strict provisions about how the funds can be collected and used, requires public hearings before implementing the program, mandates reporting to the Health and Human Services Commission, and prohibits hospitals from passing these mandatory payments on to patients as surcharges. Additionally, the bill limits administrative expenses counties can charge for running the program, with caps ranging from $20,000 to $300,000 depending on the county's size and characteristics.

Government Affairs

https://capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=89R&Bill=HB3348