SB2544

For services or supplies provided on or after June 20, 2025, amended section 1467.054(a) requires the request no later than the 180th day after the out-of-network provider receives an initial payment. That clock does not start on the service date or the bill’s mailing date. The previous text of this subsection contained no request deadline. The bill does not change the chapter’s existing eligibility rules or create coverage for every out-of-network bill; it also leaves intact the separate provision allowing parties to agree to extend deadlines under the subchapter. Final law; Previous request provision; Mediation eligibility; Other mediation rules, including agreed extensions.

For services or supplies provided before the effective date, the former law continues to govern only if mediation is requested on or before the 120th day after that effective date. If not requested by that transition cutoff, the dispute is ineligible for mediation under this subchapter. This is a restriction on that mediation route, not a declaration that all other legal claims disappear. Final law, section 2.

The introduced bill proposed 90 days and a 30-day implementation delay with a rulemaking deadline. The Senate substitute removed that delay and rulemaking requirement, applied the change to services from the effective date, and added the 120-day transition cutoff. The Senate-passed and House committee texts retained those terms. The one indexed House amendment, adopted May 8 and later accepted by the Senate, changed 90 days to 180 days; that change appears in the enacted text. Introduced bill; Senate substitute; All versions; Adopted House amendment; Amendment index; Final law.

Compare the published text versions in the official text index. A change is not attributed to a specific amendment here without a verified record.

Providers and health plans gain a defined filing window, but must track the initial-payment date and the older-service transition cutoff or risk losing access to this mediation process. Compared with the earlier 90-day proposal, the enacted deadline gives them more time; compared with the former statutory request provision, it adds a limit. It does not guarantee a particular payment or patient savings. Final law; Previous statute.

All four posted fiscal notes anticipate no significant fiscal effect on state or local government and assume implementation costs can be absorbed with existing resources. That government-budget estimate is not a finding that private billing administration has no cost. This briefing does not verify individual claim outcomes. Latest fiscal note; Introduced note; Substitute note; House-passed note.