HBA-ATS H.B. 2966 76(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 2966
By: Hilbert
Urban Affairs
3/21/1999
Introduced



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

Texas law authorizes a governing body to adopt an ordinance creating a
hospital authority if the governing body finds that creation of the
authority is in the best interest of the municipality and its residents.
All hospital authorities may own or operate a hospital, but only hospital
authorities that are located in a county with a population of 35,000 or
less, a rural area, or an area that is not delineated as an urbanized area
by the federal census bureau may own or operate other medical facilities
that cater to the elderly or disabled.  The Tomball Hospital Authority
(authority) owns and operates several medical facilities, including the
Tomball Regional Hospital, an acute-care hospital, an ambulatory surgery
center, a home health agency, a sports medicine center, a skilled nursing
center, and a rehabilitation care center. 

The governing body of the Tomball Hospital Authority wants to operate a
nursing home, an assisted living facility, and an independent living
facility on land it owns adjacent to its hospital.  The authority believes
that if it is allowed to operate a limited number of nursing home beds it
can accommodate the growing number of post-acute patients who are unable to
receive immediate care because of long waiting lists at the two existing
nursing homes in the city.  In addition, hospital beds currently used by
post-acute patients can be made available for patients that require acute
care.  The problem is that the authority is located in Harris County and
therefore does not meet the statutory requirements to own or operate
medical facilities that cater to the elderly or disabled.  H.B. 2966
prohibits those restrictions contained in Subsections (e) (rural area or
county population) and (f) (prohibition against an authority issuing
revenue bonds to own or operate a facility that caters to the elderly or
disabled  if a private provider is available in the area), of Section
262.034, Health and Safety Code, from applying to an authority created by a
municipality with a population less than 12,000 and that is in a county
with a population of 2.5 million or more, if the authority does not own or
operate more than fifty licensed nursing home beds.  

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does
not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state
officer, department, agency, or institution. 

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

SECTION 1.  Amends Section 262.034, Health and Safety Code, by adding
Subsection (g), to prohibit the restrictions contained in Subsections (e)
(rural area or county population) and (f) (prohibition against an authority
issuing revenue bonds to own or operate a facility that caters to the
elderly or disabled  if there is a private provider in the area) from
applying to an authority created by a municipality with a population less
than 12,000 and that is located in a county with a population of 2.5
million or more, if the authority does not own or operate more than fifty
licensed nursing home beds. 

SECTION 2.  Effective date: September 1, 1999.

SECTION 3.  Emergency clause.