Read the full stored bill text
89(R) HB 216 - Enrolled version - Bill Text
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