Sec. 254.160.  PROHIBITED PRICING PRACTICES DURING DECLARED STATE OF DISASTER.  (a)  In this section, "unconscionable price" means a price that is more than 200 percent of the average price for the same or a substantially similar product or service provided to other individuals by health care facilities located in the same county or nearest county to the county in which the freestanding emergency medical care facility is located, as applicable, according to data collected by the department under Chapter 108.
(b)  During a state of disaster declared by the governor under Chapter 418, Government Code, a facility may not:
(1)  charge an individual an unconscionable price for a product or service provided at the facility; or
(2)  knowingly or intentionally charge a third-party payor, including a health benefit plan insurer, a price higher than the price charged to an individual for the same product or service based on the payor's liability for payment or partial payment of the product or service.
(c)  Subsection (b)(2) does not prohibit a facility from:
(1)  offering an uninsured individual a cash discount for a particular product or service; or
(2)  accepting directly from an individual full payment for a health care product or service in lieu of submitting a claim to the individual's health benefit plan.
Added by Acts 2021, 87th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1050 (S.B. 2038), Sec. 3, eff. September 1, 2021.