This report is the latest in KXAN’s “Medical Debt Litigation” investigation. Our team will continue to follow the bill during the Texas legislative session.
AUSTIN (KXAN) — The House Public Health Committee passed Senate Bill 490 on Wednesday. The law promotes transparency in medical billing by requiring patients to submit itemized medical bills.
The bill, authored by Sen. Brian Hughes, R-Mineola, will next head to the House floor. This bill requires hospitals and other health care providers requesting payment from patients to send written itemized bills after services have been rendered.
A majority of the committee voted in favor of the bill with alternatives. If the bill passes the House, it must be returned to the Senate for final approval.
The Texas Senate passed the bill last week. Hughes, along with members of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee, testified on the bill’s importance leading up to its vote.
companion bill
The same bill, introduced by R-Round Rock Rep. Caroline Harris as a fellow House member, is also moving forward and could be heard in the House in the coming days.
The 1973 House bill faced pushback from some lawmakers and Houston’s health care system at its first committee hearings in early April. Harris submitted an alternative proposal that addresses the challenges and implementation costs.
One of the changes reflected in the alternatives is that providers must submit invoice statements no later than 30 days.th The day after the provider receives final payment for the service from the third party. Another change includes that the health care provider could subject him to a $1,000 fine and other disciplinary action for each violation.
The bill’s financial memo states that there would be no significant costs to the state expected and that implementation of the bill could be achieved based on analysis from the Texas Medical Commission, Board of Health and Human Services, and the State Department of Health Services. By leveraging existing resources.
Central Texas People Share Their Stories
Some Central Texas patients who have dealt with medical debt lawsuits are watching the bill’s progress closely.
“That’s great news,” Michelle Ledesma said after learning the bill was moving quickly and could become law.
She reached out to lawmakers to share her experience of being sued for medical debt by a Williamson County hospital that has filed hundreds of lawsuits against patients in recent years.
Ledesma’s case ruled in her favor in March, but the hospital’s lawyers appealed, according to court documents.
“I have contacted three law firms so far and have not been able to get anyone to help me with my case. “No,” or “we only process credit card debt,” she added. I am even more frustrated with the