2025 · Regular session · House bill
HB1327
HB1327 extends the Harris County Hospital District health care provider participation program by moving both its operating-authority expiration and the chapter's expiration from December 31, 2025, to December 31, 2027.
Official caption: Relating to the continuation of a health care provider participation program by the Harris County Hospital District.
Official report lists House author(s): Harless, Simmons. This does not identify sponsors or amendment drafters.
Bill explanation published · Version and amendment review scope is stated below · Individual amendment records may not be separately annotated.
Bill highlights
Selected points from the published explanation. Follow each point to its source-linked context; conditions and limits may matter.
- HB1327 extends the Harris County Hospital District health care provider participation program by moving both its operating-authority expiration and the chapter's expiration from December 31, 2025, to December 31, 2027.
- Under the existing chapter, the district may assess mandatory payments on nonpublic inpatient hospitals in the district.
- Existing restrictions remain: the aggregate assessment may not exceed 6% of participating hospitals' aggregate net patient revenue, the program must follow applicable federal requirements, and a paying hospital may not add the payment as a patient surcharge.
What does it do?
HB1327 extends the Harris County Hospital District health care provider participation program by moving both its operating-authority expiration and the chapter’s expiration from December 31, 2025, to December 31, 2027. Governor Abbott signed it May 28, 2025, and it took effect that day. This is a two-year continuation of an existing program, not a new statewide program. Final law · History
Under the existing chapter, the district may assess mandatory payments on nonpublic inpatient hospitals in the district. The fund supports authorized uses, principally transfers that provide the nonfederal share of specified Medicaid hospital payments. Collection remains conditional on the qualifying waiver program, rate enhancement or reimbursement being available. HB1327 does not guarantee federal matching funds, set a new assessment rate or itself appropriate money. Health and Safety Code 299, especially 299.103, 299.151 and 299.153(d)
Existing restrictions remain: the aggregate assessment may not exceed 6% of participating hospitals’ aggregate net patient revenue, the program must follow applicable federal requirements, and a paying hospital may not add the payment as a patient surcharge. The chapter limits how the money may be used and does not authorize general-revenue fundraising or Medicaid eligibility expansion through these funds.
What changed along the way?
All five indexed versions—introduced, House committee, engrossed, Senate committee and enrolled—have identical operative provisions. The amendment index expressly reports no amendments. The bill passed the House 109–31, with one present but not voting, and the Senate 28–3, meeting the threshold for immediate effect. Introduced · House committee · Engrossed · Senate committee · Version index · Amendment index
For the full amendment record, open the official amendment index.
Official bill versions
Compare the published text versions in the official text index. A change is not attributed to a specific amendment here without a verified record.
Who could benefit—and who could bear the costs?
Continuing the authority can help sustain an existing hospital-financing mechanism and the care it supports. Paying hospitals remain responsible for assessments; the district continues administration and public-hearing duties. The law does not guarantee that each hospital gets back what it pays or establish a particular patient’s bill reduction.
Both Legislative Budget Board notes anticipate no state fiscal impact and no significant local-government fiscal impact. Neither provides a quantified two-year/five-year estimate or a forecast of hospital payments and federal receipts. Those findings do not mean the continued program involves no money. Introduced fiscal note · Engrossed fiscal note
Official sources
- Bill history and latest recorded action
- Bill versions, analyses and fiscal notes
- Action history and votes
- Amendment index
Catalog report retrieved 2026-10-25. Check the official record for corrections or later changes.