Sec. 531.552. WORK GROUP ON UNCOMPENSATED HOSPITAL CARE

(a) In this section, "work group" means the work group on uncompensated hospital care.

(b) The executive commissioner shall establish the work group on uncompensated hospital care to assist the executive commissioner in developing rules required by Section 531.551 by performing the functions described by Subsection (g).

(c) The executive commissioner shall determine the number of members of the work group. The executive commissioner shall ensure that the work group includes representatives from the office of the attorney general and the hospital industry. A member of the work group serves at the will of the executive commissioner.

(d) The executive commissioner shall designate a member of the work group to serve as presiding officer. The members of the work group shall elect any other necessary officers.

(e) The work group shall meet at the call of the executive commissioner.

(f) A member of the work group may not receive compensation for serving on the work group but is entitled to reimbursement for travel expenses incurred by the member while conducting the business of the work group as provided by the General Appropriations Act.

(g) The work group shall study and advise the executive commissioner in:

(1) identifying the number of different reports required to be submitted to the state that address uncompensated hospital care, care for low-income uninsured persons in this state, or both;

(2) standardizing the definitions used to determine uncompensated hospital care for purposes of those reports;

(3) improving the tracking of hospital charges, costs, and adjustments as those charges, costs, and adjustments relate to identifying uncompensated hospital care and maintaining a hospital's tax-exempt status;

(4) developing and applying a standard set of adjustments to a hospital's initial computation of the cost of uncompensated hospital care that account for all funding streams that:

(A) are not patient-specific; and

(B) are used to offset the hospital's initially computed amount of uncompensated care;

(5) developing a standard and comprehensive center for data analysis and reporting with respect to uncompensated hospital care; and

(6) analyzing the effect of the standardization of the definition of uncompensated hospital care and the computation of its cost, as determined in accordance with the rules adopted by the executive commissioner, on the laws of this state, and analyzing potential legislation to incorporate the changes made by the standardization.

Added by Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch. 268 , Sec. 8(a), eff. September 1, 2007.