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Panel leaves SB 916 pending to extend ban on balance billing for municipal ground ambulance services
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Summary
Senate Bill 916 would extend an existing prohibition on balance billing by municipal ground ambulance services from Sept. 1, 2025 to Sept. 1, 2027, authorize HHSC enforcement actions and require locally‑set rates not to exceed inflationary increases; committee left the bill pending after invited testimony.
Senate Bill 916, laid out in the Health & Human Services Committee and explained by Senator Zaffirini as a consumer‑protection measure, would extend protections that prohibit municipal ground ambulance services from balance billing patients.
Senator Zaffirini told the committee SB 916 would extend the existing prohibition from Sept. 1, 2025 to Sept. 1, 2027; authorize the Department of State Health Services to revoke, suspend or refuse renewal of an emergency medical services provider’s license for intentionally submitting incorrect information to the emergency medical services provider balance billing rate database; and require locally set rates for municipal ground ambulance services not to exceed inflationary rates. She said the prior bill included an expiration date anticipating federal action that did not materialize.
Jamie Dudensing, CEO of the Texas Association of Health Plans, testified in support and described the historical background: Texas enacted surprise‑billing protections in 2019 and later passed a bill addressing ambulance billing, and this measure would extend those protections while the federal solution remains unresolved. Dudensing said the industry worked with ambulance providers and lawmakers to reach the prior compromise and urged the committee to preserve patient protections.
The chair left SB 916 pending for further public testimony later in the hearing; no committee vote was taken on the record during the layout. The committee indicated invited and resource witnesses will be available during the public testimony period.
