SECTION 511.77. Hospital Price Transparency Reporting and Enforcement

(a) A limited services rural hospital (LSRH) shall comply with the disclosure and reporting requirements of Texas Health and Safety Code (HSC) Chapter 327 (relating to Disclosure of Prices) as described in this section.

(b) An LSRH shall make the information required by HSC Chapter 327 available in a prominent location on the home page of its publicly accessible website or accessible by selecting a dedicated link that is prominently displayed on the home page of its publicly accessible website. If the LSRH operates multiple locations and maintains a single website, the homepage must contain a link to the list containing the links to each location the LSRH operates in a manner that clearly associates the list with the applicable location of the LSRH.

(c) Each time an LSRH updates a list as required by HSC §327.003 and §327.004, it shall submit the updated list to the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) in the manner specified by HHSC on its website.

(d) HHSC has jurisdiction to impose an administrative penalty against a hospital licensed under this chapter for violations of HSC Chapter 327 and this section. An administrative penalty imposed under this section shall be in accordance with the provisions of HSC §327.008.

(e) In determining the amount of any penalty sought pursuant to HSC §327.008, HHSC shall consider:

(1) previous violations by the hospital's operator;

(2) the seriousness of the violation;

(3) the demonstrated good faith of the hospital's operator; and

(4) any other matters that justice may require.

(f) For purposes of calculating any penalty sought pursuant to HSC §327.008, the penalty imposed by HHSC for an LSRH with one of the following total gross revenues, as reported to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, in the year preceding the year in which a penalty is imposed, may not exceed:

(1) $10 for each day the hospital violated HSC Chapter 327, if the hospital's total gross revenue is less than $10,000,000;

(2) $100 for each day the hospital violated HSC Chapter 327, if the hospital's total gross revenue is $10,000,000 or more and less than $100,000,000; and

(3) $1,000 for each day the hospital violated HSC Chapter 327, if the hospital's total gross revenue is $100,000,000 or more.

(g) Each day a violation continues is considered a separate violation.

(1) The administrative penalties for each day of a continuing violation cease on the date the violation is corrected. A violation that is the subject of a penalty is presumed to continue on each successive day until it is corrected. The date of correction alleged by the hospital in its written plan of correction or corrective action plan will be presumed to be the actual date of correction, unless HHSC later determines that the correction was not made by that date or was not satisfactory.

(2) For continuing violations pursuant to HSC Chapter 327, penalties are cumulative as demonstrated in Figure: 26 TAC §511.77(g)(2)(B). The penalty amount is multiplied by the number of days the violation continues. The penalty amount for each day of the continuing violation is then added to the running total of the previous day's penalties according to the formula in subparagraph (A) of this paragraph.

(A) Cumulative administrative penalty = [penalty for each day of violation + (penalty for each day of violation x number of days of violation)]/2 x (number of days of violation).

(B) The cumulative amounts are not subject to the per day penalty cap in subsection (f) of this section.

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Source Note: The provisions of this §511.77 adopted to be effective October 5, 2023, 48 TexReg 5668