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HB26-1305 • 2026

Licensing of Behavioral Health Facilities

The act allows psychiatric inpatient health-care facilities to operate under a main hospital's license if certain conditions are met. The act requires that the main hospital in which the psychiatric i

Healthcare
Enacted

This bill passed the Legislature and reached final enactment based on the latest official action.

Sponsor
Rep. M. Lukens, Sen. D. Roberts, Rep. A. Boesenecker, Rep. K. Brown, Rep. M. Duran, Rep. R. English, Rep. C. Espenoza, Rep. R. Gonzalez, Rep. J. Jackson, Rep. S. Lieder, Rep. M. Lindsay, Rep. B. Marshall, Rep. J. McCluskie, Rep. K. McCormick, Rep. K. Nguyen, Rep. N. Ricks, Rep. M. Rutinel, Rep. L. Smith, Rep. K. Stewart, Rep. R. Stewart, Rep. R. Weinberg, Sen. J. Amabile, Sen. A. Benavidez, Sen. J. Bridges, Sen. M. Catlin, Sen. J. Coleman, Sen. L. Cutter, Sen. L. Daugherty, Sen. T. Exum, Sen. J. Gonzales, Sen. I. Jodeh, Sen. C. Kipp, Sen. C. Kolker, Sen. W. Lindstedt, Sen. L. Liston, Sen. J. Marchman, Sen. K. Mullica, Sen. B. Pelton, Sen. M. Snyder, Sen. K. Wallace, Sen. M. Weissman
Last action
2026-05-04
Official status
Governor Signed
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Checked against official source text during the last sync.

Licensing Rules for Psychiatric Inpatient Facilities

This law lets psychiatric inpatient facilities run under a main hospital's license if they meet specific conditions.

What This Bill Does

  • Allows psychiatric inpatient health-care facilities to operate using a main hospital's license.
  • Requires that certain conditions are met before this shared licensing is allowed.
  • Mandates that the main hospital proves these conditions exist when applying for the license.

Who It Names or Affects

  • Psychiatric inpatient health-care facilities
  • Main hospitals seeking to license psychiatric units under their own permit

Limits and Unknowns

  • The text does not list the specific conditions that must be met.
  • The effective date for this law is not provided in the source material.

Amendments

These notes stay tied to the official amendment files and metadata from the legislature.

L.001

Second Reading

Passed [**]

Plain English: This amendment creates a special rule allowing certain existing psychiatric hospitals to operate as remote locations of general hospitals even if they do not meet the standard ownership requirements.

  • Adds a new section (9) that lets specific facilities become 'remote psychiatric inpatient locations' under a main hospital's license.
  • Allows this exception only for facilities already licensed as psychiatric hospitals before this law takes effect.
  • Requires these facilities to have been federally recognized as remote general hospital locations with provider-based status previously.
  • Mandates that the facility must be certified to accept Medicaid and currently serve Medicaid members.
  • The amendment does not explain what happens if a facility meets some but not all of these specific conditions.
  • It is unclear how this change affects facilities that were licensed as psychiatric hospitals after the effective date mentioned in the text.

Bill History

  1. 2026-05-04 Governor

    Governor Signed

  2. 2026-04-28 Governor

    Sent to the Governor

  3. 2026-04-28 Senate

    Signed by the President of the Senate

  4. 2026-04-28 House

    Signed by the Speaker of the House

  5. 2026-04-17 House

    House Considered Senate Amendments - Result was to Concur - Repass

  6. 2026-04-15 House

    House Considered Senate Amendments - Result was to Laid Over Daily

  7. 2026-04-14 Senate

    Senate Third Reading Passed - No Amendments

  8. 2026-04-13 Senate

    Senate Second Reading Passed with Amendments - Floor

  9. 2026-04-09 Senate

    Senate Committee on Health & Human Services Refer Unamended - Consent Calendar to Senate Committee of the Whole

  10. 2026-03-25 Senate

    Introduced In Senate - Assigned to Health & Human Services

  11. 2026-03-23 House

    House Third Reading Passed - No Amendments

  12. 2026-03-20 House

    House Second Reading Special Order - Passed - No Amendments

  13. 2026-03-17 House

    House Committee on Health & Human Services Refer Unamended to House Committee of the Whole

  14. 2026-02-27 House

    Introduced In House - Assigned to Health & Human Services

Official Summary Text

The act allows psychiatric inpatient health-care facilities to operate under a main hospital's license if certain conditions are met. The act requires that the main hospital in which the psychiatric inpatient health-care facility is licensed under demonstrates that the necessary conditions are met in its application for licensing.
(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)