Bill Text: TX SB401 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Introduced
NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Relating to prices charged by a medical staffing services agency during certain designated public health disaster periods; providing a civil penalty.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)
Status: (Passed) 2023-06-18 - Effective on 9/1/23 [SB401 Detail]
Download: Texas-2023-SB401-Introduced.html
Bill Title: Relating to prices charged by a medical staffing services agency during certain designated public health disaster periods; providing a civil penalty.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)
Status: (Passed) 2023-06-18 - Effective on 9/1/23 [SB401 Detail]
Download: Texas-2023-SB401-Introduced.html
| 88R229 SRA-D | ||
| By: Kolkhorst | S.B. No. 401 | |
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| relating to prices charged by a medical staffing services agency | ||
| during a declared state of disaster; providing a civil penalty. | ||
| BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
| SECTION 1. Subtitle D, Title 2, Health and Safety Code, is | ||
| amended by adding Chapter 81B to read as follows: | ||
| CHAPTER 81B. PRICE GOUGING OF MEDICAL STAFFING SERVICES DURING | ||
| DECLARED STATE OF DISASTER | ||
| Sec. 81B.001. DEFINITION. In this chapter, "designated | ||
| disaster period" means the period: | ||
| (1) beginning on the earlier of: | ||
| (A) the date: | ||
| (i) the governor issues a proclamation or | ||
| executive order declaring a state of disaster for any area of this | ||
| state; or | ||
| (ii) the president of the United States | ||
| declares a state of disaster that includes an area of this state as | ||
| part of the federally declared disaster area; or | ||
| (B) the date a disaster described by Paragraph | ||
| (A) occurs; and | ||
| (2) ending on the 30th day after the date the disaster | ||
| declaration expires or is terminated. | ||
| Sec. 81B.002. APPLICABILITY. This chapter applies only to | ||
| a medical staffing services agency that provides the following | ||
| health care professionals to fill vacancies or address temporary | ||
| staffing needs during a designated disaster period: | ||
| (1) physician assistants licensed under Chapter 204, | ||
| Occupations Code; | ||
| (2) surgical assistants licensed under Chapter 206, | ||
| Occupations Code; or | ||
| (3) nurses licensed under Chapter 301, Occupations | ||
| Code. | ||
| Sec. 81B.003. PROHIBITED PRICE GOUGING DURING DECLARED | ||
| STATE OF DISASTER. During a designated disaster period, a medical | ||
| staffing services agency to which this chapter applies may not | ||
| charge an exorbitant or excessive price to provide medical staffing | ||
| services to a health care organization or other entity in this state | ||
| in an area subject to a declared state of disaster. | ||
| Sec. 81B.004. CIVIL PENALTY. (a) A medical staffing | ||
| services agency that violates this chapter is subject to a civil | ||
| penalty in an amount not to exceed $1,000 for each violation. | ||
| (b) The attorney general may bring an action in the name of | ||
| the state to recover a civil penalty under this section. | ||
| (c) The attorney general may recover reasonable expenses | ||
| incurred in obtaining a civil penalty under this section, including | ||
| court costs, reasonable attorney's fees, expert witness fees, | ||
| deposition expenses, and investigatory costs. | ||
| SECTION 2. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to | ||
| an act that occurs on or after the effective date of this Act. An | ||
| act that occurs before the effective date of this Act is governed by | ||
| the law in effect on the date the act occurred, and the former law is | ||
| continued in effect for that purpose. | ||
| SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023. | ||
