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Denton County sets local provider participation fund rate at 6% after public hearing
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Summary
After a public hearing, the Denton County Commissioners Court amended the fiscal-year 2025 rate and set the fiscal-year 2026 rate for the county's Local Provider Participation Fund at 6%, a move supporters say helps local hospitals cover care for uninsured and low-income residents.
DENTON, Texas — Denton County Commissioners Court voted unanimously Tuesday to amend the fiscal-year 2025 mandatory payment and set the fiscal-year 2026 mandatory payment for the Denton County Local Provider Participation Fund (LPPF) at 6 percent.
The change followed a public hearing in which hospital representatives and program consultants described how the LPPF channels county-collected mandatory payments to participating hospitals so those hospitals can obtain matching funds and expand services for uninsured or low-income patients.
The public hearing attracted officials from HCA Medical City, Cook Children's, Baylor Scott & White and Texas Health Resources and consultants who work with county hospitals. "This program has been tremendously beneficial for the hospitals," said Michael Neal of Adelanto Healthcare Ventures, which supports local hospitals in administering LPPF programs. "These LPPF programs support dollars back into the hospitals for continued recruitment and retention of talented physicians and nurses and allow them to deepen their commitment to your community and to Denton County."
County staff and counsel explained that, under state law, the LPPF is not a tax and cannot be imposed as a surcharge on individual patients. "It is not a tax," a county staff member said during the hearing; "by statute, this is not allowed as a surcharge to the hospital patients."
After the hearing, Commissioner Faulkner moved to approve the resolution to amend the FY2025 rate and set the FY2026 rate at 6 percent; Commissioner Edmondson seconded the motion. The court voted in favor; court minutes record the motion as passing unanimously.
The court thanked county staff and hospital partners for coordinating the program and the notice process required by statute. County staff said they had notified all hospitals that could participate; no hospital submitted formal opposition to the rate change during the required notice period.
The LPPF is intended to provide a local funding mechanism for hospitals to draw state and federal matching funds to support care for uninsured or low-income residents. County officials described the rate-setting vote as necessary to allow participating hospitals to finalize program paperwork and proceed with reimbursement and recruitment activities.
Court action on the rate followed the county's earlier creation of the LPPF and the administrative steps to notify hospitals and hold the public hearing required under state law.
The resolution approved by the court will be filed with county records; county staff said they will continue to work with hospitals on implementation steps required by the program.
