H.B. 834 Summary

• Reorganizes state human resources management by moving the Office of State Personnel to the Governor's office and restructuring the State Personnel Commission to nine members with four-year terms.

• Increases the number of exempt positions from 1,000 to 1,500 and adds three new cabinet offices eligible for exempt designations (Information Technology Services, State Budget and Management, and State Personnel).

• Reforms employee grievance procedures by establishing a two-step process through agency review and Office of Administrative Hearings, with grounds limited to discrimination, retaliation, just cause for dismissal, veteran's preference, and posting violations.

• Requires hospitals and ambulatory surgical facilities receiving Medicaid reimbursements to report pricing information on the 100 most common DRGs and common surgical/imaging procedures, and participate in the North Carolina Health Information Exchange.

• Prohibits charging for unprovided health care services, requires itemized patient bills with refunds within 45 days for overpayments, restricts collections practices, and exempts certain university health care providers from state tax refund set-off debt collection.