SB669 - Relating to itemized billing for health care services and supplies provided by health care providers.

  89R7417 LRM-D     By: Hughes S.B. No. 669       A BILL TO BE ENTITLED   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 185.001(2), Health and Safety Code, is   amended to read as follows:                (2)  "Health care provider" means an individual or [ a ]   facility licensed, certified, or otherwise authorized to provide   health care services or supplies in this state in the ordinary   course of business, including a physician, nurse practitioner,   physician assistant, or hospital [ , except the term does not   include a federally-qualified health center, as defined by 42   U.S.C. Section 1396d(l)(2)(B) ].          SECTION 2.  Section 185.002, Health and Safety Code, is   amended by amending Subsections (c) and (d) and adding Subsection   (c-1) to read as follows:          (c)   Except as provided by Subsection (c-1), a [ A ] health   care provider may issue the itemized bill :                 (1)   electronically, including through a patient   portal on the provider's Internet website ;                 (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)(1) shall:                 (1)     determine whether the patient has created a   patient profile on the portal; and                 (2)     if the health care provider determines that the   patient has not created a patient profile, mail a copy of the   itemized bill to the patient as described by Subsection (c)(2).          (d)  A patient is entitled to obtain from the health care   provider an itemized bill :                 (1)   on request at any time after the itemized bill is   initially issued under Subsection (a) ; and                 (2)     through the patient's chosen method of issuance in   accordance with Subsection (c) .          SECTION 3.  Section 185.003, Health and Safety Code, is   amended to read as follows:          Sec. 185.003.  DISCIPLINARY ACTION BY LICENSING   AUTHORITY.  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.          SECTION 4.  Notwithstanding Section 185.001, Health and   Safety Code, as amended by this Act, a health care provider, as   defined by that section, that was not subject to the requirements of   Chapter 185, Health and Safety Code, before the effective date of   this Act is not required to comply with the requirements of that   chapter before January 1, 2026.          SECTION 5.  Section 185.002, Health and Safety Code, as   amended by this Act, applies 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 6.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.