Sec. 311.042.  DEFINITIONS.  In this subchapter:
(1)  "Charity care" means those amounts defined as charity care in Section 311.031(2).
(2)  "Community benefits" means the unreimbursed cost to a hospital of providing charity care, government-sponsored indigent health care, donations, education, government-sponsored program services, research, and subsidized health services.  Community benefits does not include the cost to the hospital of paying any taxes or other governmental assessments.
(3)  "Contributions" means the dollar value of cash donations and the fair market value at the time of donation of in-kind donations to the hospital from individuals, organizations, or other entities.  Contributions does not include the value of a donation designated or otherwise restricted by the donor for purposes other than charity care.
(3-a)  "Department" means the Department of State Health Services.
(4)  "Donations" means those amounts defined as donations in Section 311.031(5).
(5)  "Education-related costs" means those amounts defined as education-related costs in Section 311.031(6).
(6)  "Government-sponsored indigent health care" means those amounts defined as government-sponsored indigent health care in Section 311.031(8).
(7)  "Government-sponsored program unreimbursed costs" means the unreimbursed cost to the hospital of providing health care services to the beneficiaries of Medicare, the TRICARE program of the United States Department of Defense, and other federal, state, or local government health care programs.
(8)  "Net patient revenue" is an accounting term and shall be calculated in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles for hospitals.
(9)(A) "Nonprofit hospital" means a hospital that is:
(i)  eligible for tax-exempt bond financing;  or
(ii)  exempt from state franchise, sales, ad valorem, or other state or local taxes;  and
(iii)  organized as a nonprofit corporation or a charitable trust under the laws of this state or any other state or country.
(B)  For purposes of this subchapter, a "nonprofit hospital" shall not include a hospital that:
(i)  is exempt from state franchise, sales, ad valorem, or other state or local taxes;
(ii)  does not receive payment for providing health care services to any inpatients or outpatients from any source including but not limited to the patient or any person legally obligated to support the patient, third-party payors, Medicare, Medicaid, or any other federal, state, or local indigent care program;  payment for providing health care services does not include charitable donations, legacies, bequests, or grants or payments for research;  and
(iii)  does not discriminate on the basis of inability to pay, race, color, creed, religion, or gender in its provision of services;  or
(iv)  is located in a county with a population under 50,000 where the entire county or the population of the entire county has been designated as a Health Professionals Shortage Area.
(10)  "Nonprofit supporting entities" means nonprofit entities created by the hospital or its parent entity to further the charitable purposes of the hospital and that are owned or controlled by the hospital or its parent entity.
(11)  "Research-related costs" means those amounts defined as research-related costs in Section 311.031(14).
(12)  "Tax-exempt benefits" means all of the following, calculated in accordance with standard accounting principles for hospitals for tax purposes using the applicable statutes, rules, and regulations regarding the calculation of these taxes:
(A)  the dollar amount of federal, state, and local taxes foregone by a nonprofit hospital and its nonprofit supporting entities.  For purposes of this definition federal, state, and local taxes include income, franchise, ad valorem, and sales taxes;
(B)  the dollar amount of contributions received by a nonprofit hospital and its nonprofit supporting entities;  and
(C)  the value of tax-exempt bond financing received by a nonprofit hospital and its nonprofit supporting entities.
(13)  "Subsidized health services" means those amounts defined as subsidized health services in Section 311.031(15).
(14)  "Unreimbursed costs" means costs as defined in Section 311.031(16).
(15)  "Hospital system" means a system of local nonprofit hospitals under the common governance of a single corporate parent that are located within a radius of not more than 125 linear miles of the corporate parent.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 360, Sec. 4, eff. Sept. 1, 1993;  Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 781, Sec. 2, eff. Sept. 1, 1995.
Amended by: 
Acts 2015, 84th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1 (S.B. 219), Sec. 3.0845, eff. April 2, 2015.