Sec. 311.046.  ANNUAL REPORT OF COMMUNITY BENEFITS PLAN.  (a)  A nonprofit hospital shall prepare an annual report of the community benefits plan and shall include in the report at least the following information:
(1)  the hospital's mission statement;
(2)  a disclosure of the health care needs of the community that were considered in developing the hospital's community benefits plan pursuant to Section 311.044(b);  
(3)  a disclosure of the amount and types of community benefits, including charity care, actually provided.  Charity care shall be reported as a separate item from other community benefits;
(4)  a statement of its total operating expenses computed in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles for hospitals from the most recent completed and audited prior fiscal year of the hospital;  and
(5)  a completed worksheet that computes the ratio of cost to charge for the fiscal year referred to in Subdivision (4) and that includes the same requirements as Worksheet 1-A adopted by the department in August 1994 for the 1994 "Annual Statement of Community Benefits Standards".
(b)  A nonprofit hospital shall file the annual report of the community benefits plan with the Center for Health Statistics at the department.  The report shall be filed no later than April 30 of each year.  In addition to the annual report, a completed worksheet as required by Subsection (a)(5) shall be filed no later than 10 working days after the date the hospital files its Medicare cost report.
(c)  A nonprofit hospital shall prepare a statement that notifies the public that the annual report of the community benefits plan is public information;  that it is filed with the department;  and that it is available to the public on request from the department.  The statement shall be posted in prominent places throughout the hospital, including but not limited to the emergency room waiting area and the admissions office waiting area.  The statement shall also be printed in the hospital patient guide or other material that provides the patient with information about the admissions criteria of the hospital.
(d)  Each hospital shall provide, to each person who seeks any health care service at the hospital, notice, in appropriate languages, if possible, about the charity care program, including the charity care and eligibility policies of the program, and how to apply for charity care.  Such notice shall also be conspicuously posted in the general waiting area, in the waiting area for emergency services, in the business office, and in such other locations as the hospital deems likely to give notice of the charity care program and policies.  Each hospital shall annually publish notice of the hospital's charity care program and policies in a local newspaper of general circulation in the county.  Each notice under this subsection must be written in language readily understandable to the average reader.
(e)  For purposes of this section, "nonprofit hospital" includes the following if the hospital is not 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:
(1)  a Medicaid disproportionate share hospital;  or
(2)  a public hospital that is owned or operated by a political subdivision or municipal corporation of the state, including a hospital district or authority.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 360, Sec. 4, eff. Sept. 1, 1993.  Amended by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 260, Sec. 3, eff. Jan. 1, 1998;  Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 654, Sec. 2, eff. Sept. 1, 2001.
Amended by: 
Acts 2015, 84th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1 (S.B. 219), Sec. 3.0848, eff. April 2, 2015.