HB216 - Relating to itemized billing for health care services and supplies provided by health care providers.

      H.B. No. 216         AN ACT   relating to itemized billing for health care services and supplies   provided by health care providers.          BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:          SECTION 1.  Section 185.002, Health and Safety Code, is   amended by amending Subsections (a), (c), and (d) and adding   Subsection (c-1) to read as follows:          (a)  A health care provider that requests payment from a   patient after providing a health care service or related supply to   the patient shall submit with the request a written, itemized bill   of the alleged amount due for [ cost of ] each service and supply   provided to the patient during the patient's visit to the   provider.  The provider must submit the itemized bill not later   than the 30th day after the provider receives a final payment on the   provided service or supply from a third party.          (c)  A health care provider may issue the itemized bill :                 (1)   electronically, including through a patient   portal on the provider's Internet website , subject to Subsection   (c-1);                 (2)     through a hard copy delivered by mail or a common   carrier; or                 (3)     through a hard copy the patient or the patient's   designee obtains at the provider's place of business .           (c-1)     A health care provider that issues an itemized bill to   a patient electronically through a patient portal under Subsection   (c) shall:                 (1)     determine whether the patient has an active   patient profile on the portal, if feasible; and                 (2)     mail, e-mail, or provide a physical copy of the   itemized bill to the patient, according to the patient's chosen   method of issuance, if the health care provider:                       (A)     determines the patient does not have an   active patient portal; or                       (B)     is unable to determine whether the patient   has an active patient portal.          (d)  A patient is entitled to obtain from the health care   provider an itemized bill :                 (1)  subject to Subdivision (3), on request [ at any   time ] after the itemized bill is initially issued under Subsection   (a) ;                 (2)     through the patient's chosen method of issuance in   accordance with Subsection (c); and                 (3)     until the date the provider is no longer required   to retain an itemized bill under applicable record retention laws   or provider policies and procedures regarding retention of patient   billing information .          SECTION 2.  Section 185.003, Health and Safety Code, is   amended to read as follows:          Sec. 185.003.  DISCIPLINARY ACTION BY LICENSING   AUTHORITY.   (a)  The appropriate licensing authority shall take   disciplinary action against a health care [ the ] provider that   violates this chapter [ for the violation ] as if the provider   violated an applicable licensing law.           (b)     Subsection (a) does not apply to a health care provider   that in good faith mails a hard copy of an itemized bill to a patient   if:                 (1)     the mailed copy is returned as undeliverable or   lost; or                 (2)     the address on file for the patient was not current   at the time the itemized bill was mailed.          SECTION 3.  Sections 311.002(b), (c), and (d), Health and   Safety Code, are repealed.          SECTION 4.  The changes in law made by this Act apply only to   an itemized bill issued on or after the effective date of this Act.   An itemized bill issued before the effective date of this Act is   governed by the law in effect on the date the itemized bill was   issued, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.          SECTION 5.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.       ______________________________ ______________________________      President of the Senate Speaker of the House                   I certify that H.B. No. 216 was passed by the House on May 10,   2025, by the following vote:  Yeas 130, Nays 0, 2 present, not   voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.   No. 216 on May 28, 2025, by the following vote:  Yeas 130, Nays 6, 1   present, not voting.     ______________________________   Chief Clerk of the House               I certify that H.B. No. 216 was passed by the Senate, with   amendments, on May 25, 2025, by the following vote:  Yeas 31, Nays   0.     ______________________________   Secretary of the Senate      APPROVED: __________________                   Date                       __________________                 Governor