Tex. Bus. & Com. Code Section 17.464
Unconscionable Price for Care at Emergency Facility


(a)

In this section:

(1)

“Emergency care” means health care services provided in an emergency facility to evaluate and stabilize medical conditions of a recent onset and severity, including severe pain, that would lead a prudent layperson possessing an average knowledge of medicine and health to believe that the individual’s condition, sickness, or injury is of such a nature that failure to get immediate medical care could:

(A)

place the individual’s health in serious jeopardy;

(B)

result in serious impairment to bodily functions;

(C)

result in serious dysfunction of a bodily organ or part;

(D)

result in serious disfigurement; or

(E)

for a pregnant woman, result in serious jeopardy to the health of the fetus.

(2)

“Emergency facility”:

(A)

means:
(i)
a freestanding emergency medical care facility licensed under Chapter 254 (Freestanding Emergency Medical Care Facilities), Health and Safety Code; or
(ii)
a hospital that does not meet the conditions of participation for certification under Title XVIII of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. Section 1395 et seq.); and

(B)

does not include a hospital that:
(i)
has been operating as a hospital for less than one year;
(ii)
has submitted an application to a federally recognized accreditation program for certification under Title XVIII of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. Section 1395 et seq.); and
(iii)
has not failed an accreditation for certification.

(b)

For purposes of Section 17.46 (Deceptive Trade Practices Unlawful)(a), the term “false, misleading, or deceptive acts or practices” includes an emergency facility that:

(1)

provides emergency care at an unconscionable price; or

(2)

demands or charges an unconscionable price for or in connection with emergency care or other care at the facility.

(c)

The consumer protection division may not bring an action under Section 17.47 (Restraining Orders) for an act or practice described by Subsection (b) if the price alleged to be unconscionable is less than 200 percent of the average charge for the same or substantially similar care provided to other individuals by emergency rooms of hospitals located in the same county or nearest county in which the emergency facility is located, as applicable, according to data collected by the Department of State Health Services under Chapter 108 (Health Care Data Collection), Health and Safety Code, and made available to the division, except as provided by Subsection (d). The consumer protection division may not use data that includes prices for care provided in an urgent care setting or physician practice to establish the division’s authority to investigate and pursue an action under this subchapter.

(d)

If the attorney general determines that the consumer protection division is unable to obtain the charge data described by Subsection (c), the attorney general may adopt rules designating another source of hospital charge data for use by the division in establishing the average charge for emergency care or other care provided by hospital emergency rooms for purposes of Subsection (c).

(e)

In an action brought under Section 17.47 (Restraining Orders) to enforce this section, the consumer protection division may request, and the trier of fact may award the recovery of:

(1)

reasonable attorney’s fees and court costs; and

(2)

the reasonable expenses incurred by the division in obtaining any remedy available under Section 17.47 (Restraining Orders), including the cost of investigation, witness fees, and deposition expenses.

(f)

This section does not create a private cause of action for a false, misleading, or deceptive act or practice described by Subsection (b).
Added by Acts 2019, 86th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1090 (H.B. 1941), Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2019.

Source: Section 17.464 — Unconscionable Price for Care at Emergency Facility, https://statutes.­capitol.­texas.­gov/Docs/BC/htm/BC.­17.­htm#17.­464 (accessed Mar. 23, 2024).

17.01
Definitions
17.08
Private Use of State Seal
17.11
Deceptive Wholesale and Going-out-of-business Advertising
17.12
Deceptive Advertising
17.29
Misusing Container
17.30
Misusing Dairy Container Bearing Proprietary Mark
17.31
Identification, Possession, and Use of Certain Containers
17.41
Short Title
17.42
Waivers: Public Policy
17.43
Cumulative Remedies
17.44
Construction and Application
17.45
Definitions
17.46
Deceptive Trade Practices Unlawful
17.47
Restraining Orders
17.48
Duty of District and County Attorney
17.49
Exemptions
17.50
Relief for Consumers
17.55
Promotional Material
17.56
Venue
17.57
Subpoenas
17.58
Voluntary Compliance
17.59
Post Judgment Relief
17.60
Reports and Examinations
17.61
Civil Investigative Demand
17.62
Penalties
17.63
Application
17.81
Definition
17.82
Prohibited Conduct
17.83
Original Inventory
17.84
Permit
17.85
Deadline for Orders
17.86
Sale Inventory
17.87
Final Inventory
17.88
Disposition of Sale Items
17.89
Later Sales
17.90
Form of Inventory
17.91
Exceptions
17.92
Penalty
17.93
Injunction
17.461
Pyramid Promotional Scheme
17.462
Listing of Business Location of Certain Businesses
17.463
Production, Sale, Distribution, or Promotion of Certain Synthetic Substances
17.464
Unconscionable Price for Care at Emergency Facility
17.501
Consumer Protection Division Participation in Class Action
17.505
Notice
17.506
Damages: Defenses
17.555
Indemnity
17.565
Limitation
17.821
Definitions
17.822
Meat Labeling
17.823
Sale of Nonkosher Food
17.824
Exception
17.825
Civil Remedy
17.826
Penalty
17.835
Notice of Filing of Original Inventory
17.851
Definitions
17.852
Inquiry as to Producer
17.853
Unlawful Acts
17.854
Penalty
17.881
Definitions
17.882
Meat Labeling
17.883
Sale of Nonhalal Food
17.884
Civil Remedy
17.885
Criminal Penalty
17.901
Definitions
17.902
Unauthorized Advertisement, Promotion, or Conduction of Certain Live Musical Performances
17.903
Injunction
17.904
Civil Penalty
17.921
Definitions
17.922
Required Disclosure for Collections Through Public Receptacle
17.923
Required Disclosures for Telephone or Door-to-door Solicitations
17.924
Required Disclosures for Mail Solicitations
17.925
Local Ordinance or Regulation
17.926
Civil Penalty
17.951
Definition
17.952
Bad Faith Claim of Patent Infringement Prohibited
17.953
Enforcement by Attorney General
17.954
Construction of Subchapter
17.955
No Private Cause of Action
17.4625
Price Gouging During Declared Disaster
17.5051
Mediation
17.5052
Offers of Settlement

Accessed:
Mar. 23, 2024

§ 17.464’s source at texas​.gov