Texas Health and Safety Code 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 § 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.
Terms Used In Texas Health and Safety Code 311.046
- Charity: An agency, institution, or organization in existence and operating for the benefit of an indefinite number of persons and conducted for educational, religious, scientific, medical, or other beneficent purposes.
- Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
- Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
- Person: includes corporation, organization, government or governmental subdivision or agency, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, association, and any other legal entity. See Texas Government Code 311.005
- Population: means the population shown by the most recent federal decennial census. See Texas Government Code 311.005
- Written: includes any representation of words, letters, symbols, or figures. See Texas Government Code 311.005
- Year: means 12 consecutive months. See Texas Government Code 311.005
(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.