BILL ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 723

By: Patterson

Public Health

Committee Report (Substituted)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Concerns have been raised regarding the lack of a requirement for a decedent's next of kin to be notified when the cause of death is changed on a death certificate. C.S.H.B. 723 seeks to address this issue by providing for such a notification.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.

ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 723 amends the Health and Safety Code to require a person who submits a request for an amendment to a death certificate that is not a pending death certificate for the purpose of modifying the medical certification information on the certificate to provide written notice of the modification to the decedent's next of kin in the manner prescribed by the Department of State Health Services.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2021.

COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND SUBSTITUTE

While C.S.H.B. 723 may differ from the original in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following summarizes the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.

The substitute includes a specification that the amendment to a death certificate to which the bill applies is an amendment to a death certificate that is not pending.