No. SB 1156
Filed under Healthcare.
Ambulatory Surgical Centers; Specifying requirements for issuance, denial, suspension, and revocation of ambulatory surgical center licenses; requiring each licensed facility to maintain and provide upon request records of all inspection reports pertaining to that facility; prohibiting any person from paying or receiving a commission, bonus, kickback, or rebate or engaging in any split-fee arrangement for referring a patient to a licensed facility; prohibiting a licensed facility from denying, for a specified reason, the applications of certain licensed health care practitioners for staff membership and clinical privileges; requiring licensed facilities to provide for peer review of certain physicians and develop procedures to conduct such reviews, etc.
Plain English Summary
AI-GENERATEDAmbulatory surgical centers move from chapter 395, which they currently share with hospitals, into a new chapter 396 built specifically for them, with their own licensing, inspection, fee, and enforcement rules effective July 1, 2026.
Centers cannot deny a qualified doctor, dentist, or podiatrist staff privileges just because of which of those licenses they hold, and each center must run a physician peer-review process with its own immunity and confidentiality rules.
Patients get new billing protections: a written cost estimate before non-emergency procedures, an itemized bill afterward, and limits on when a center can sell a debt, sue, garnish wages, or send a bill to collections.
It is still illegal to pay or take a kickback for referring patients, the agency can halt elective admissions it considers unsafe, and centers must keep inspection reports on file and hand over a copy on request.
AIAmbulatory surgical centers move out of chapter 395, which they currently share with hospitals, into a new chapter 396 with its own licensure, inspection, fee, and enforcement rules. Operating or advertising as an ambulatory surgical center without a license under the new chapter remains unlawful.
AIEach licensed facility must provide for peer review of physicians who deliver care there and adopt written, binding procedures for how that review is conducted, including a conflict-of-interest check and at least an annual review of the procedures themselves.
AIA center considering an application for staff membership or clinical privileges cannot reject a qualified medical doctor, osteopathic physician, dentist, or podiatric physician solely because of which of those four licenses the applicant holds.
AIBefore providing a nonemergency service, a center must give the patient a written or electronic good-faith estimate of anticipated charges, generally at least 3 business days ahead, and must separately flag any facility fee included in that estimate.
AIA center may not sell a patient's debt, report it to a credit bureau, place a lien, garnish wages, or sue over an unpaid bill until it has checked the patient's eligibility for financial assistance, sent an itemized bill, let the patient's insurer adjudicate the claim, and given 30 days' written notice.
AIPaying or receiving a commission, bonus, kickback, rebate, or split-fee arrangement for referring a patient to a licensed facility remains unlawful, with fines of up to $1,000 per violation for entities the agency does not otherwise license.
AIThe agency may impose an immediate moratorium on elective admissions to a licensed facility, a specific building, or a specific service whenever it determines a condition there threatens public health or safety.
AIEach center must keep, as public information, records of every inspection report about that facility for at least 5 years, and must give a copy to a patient, an applicant for admission, or a relative who requests one, for no more than $1 per page.