HB 4504 presents a practical, liberty-affirming reform to Texas’s current approach to non-compete agreements in the healthcare sector. Rather than eliminating these agreements entirely, the bill establishes strict limitations: they may not last more than one year after employment ends, may not exceed a five-mile radius, and must offer a buyout capped at the practitioner’s annual salary. These changes are designed to reduce the burdens that non-competes can place on healthcare professionals while still preserving employers’ legitimate business interests.
While some may ask why the legislature didn’t go further and ban non-competes outright, the one-year cap reflects a deliberate and strategic compromise. It acknowledges that employers—especially in healthcare—invest significantly in building patient relationships, marketing providers, and developing internal procedures. A limited non-compete allows time to transition patients and protect proprietary information without unduly limiting the professional freedom of practitioners or disrupting access to care. In this way, HB 4504 advances the principles of individual liberty and free enterprise without imposing a broad ban that could have faced strong opposition or legal challenges.
This balanced approach also reflects the political and legal climate in Texas, which generally favors contract freedom and limited regulation. Rather than expand government, the bill works within existing statutory frameworks to reduce litigation risk, clarify expectations, and protect patient access to care. It moves Texas in the direction of greater fairness and mobility in healthcare labor markets—especially important in a state facing provider shortages—without destabilizing the contractual environment employers rely on.
In sum, HB 4504 is a significant and well-calibrated step forward. It strengthens liberty, promotes competition, and supports patient-centered care, all without growing government or creating new regulatory burdens. As such, Texas Policy Research recommends that lawmakers vote YES on HB 4504.
- Individual Liberty: The bill restores meaningful occupational freedom for physicians, nurses, dentists, and physician assistants by restricting how and when non-compete clauses can be enforced. These clauses, when overly broad, can prevent a licensed professional from working in their community—even when there is high demand for their services. By limiting the duration and geographic scope of such clauses, and capping buyouts, the bill ensures that practitioners retain more control over their careers and their right to serve patients without unreasonable contractual barriers.
- Personal Responsibility: The bill continues to honor the responsibility individuals have to their patients and employers by not outlawing non-competes entirely. Practitioners still agree to limited post-employment terms, including a buyout option and temporary restrictions. These terms reinforce professional accountability but remove unreasonable burdens that have historically penalized practitioners simply for changing jobs or seeking better opportunities.
- Free Enterprise: By curbing anti-competitive practices like excessively long or geographically expansive non-compete clauses, the bill encourages a healthier and more open healthcare labor market. It enables practitioners to offer services in communities where they’re needed and prevents dominant health systems from using restrictive contracts to suppress competition. This improves consumer choice and drives innovation in healthcare delivery.
- Private Property Rights: Employers retain their property interests in protecting patient relationships, proprietary business practices, and staff investments—but those rights are balanced by reasonable limitations. The bill doesn’t eliminate non-competes; it simply defines their boundaries in ways that preserve fairness. Employers still have the right to enforce contracts, but not in ways that effectively “own” a practitioner’s future labor across wide regions or indefinite timelines.
- Limited Government: Crucially, the bill does not expand the size or scope of state government. It imposes no new licensing, regulatory, or enforcement bodies and does not require additional rulemaking authority. Instead, it operates entirely within the existing statutory framework and preempts conflicting laws to provide legal clarity. It reduces litigation risk and contractual abuse without growing government infrastructure.
