1-1  By:  McDonald (Senate Sponsor - Ellis)                H.B. No. 1972
    1-2        (In the Senate - Received from the House May 3, 1993;
    1-3  May 4, 1993, read first time and referred to Committee on Health
    1-4  and Human Services; May 11, 1993, reported favorably by the
    1-5  following vote:  Yeas 9, Nays 0; May 11, 1993, sent to printer.)
    1-6                            COMMITTEE VOTE
    1-7                          Yea     Nay      PNV      Absent 
    1-8        Zaffirini          x                               
    1-9        Ellis              x                               
   1-10        Madla              x                               
   1-11        Moncrief           x                               
   1-12        Nelson             x                               
   1-13        Patterson          x                               
   1-14        Shelley            x                               
   1-15        Truan              x                               
   1-16        Wentworth          x                               
   1-17                         A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
   1-18                                AN ACT
   1-19  relating to permissible activities of certain nonprofit medical
   1-20  clinics operated by a nonprofit hospital or organization.
   1-21        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
   1-22        SECTION 1.  Section 3.06, Medical Practice Act (Article
   1-23  4495b, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended by adding
   1-24  Subsections (g) and (h) to read as follows:
   1-25        (g)  This Act does not prohibit a nonprofit clinic that is
   1-26  operated by a nonprofit hospital or organization and that primarily
   1-27  serves a financially indigent population from:
   1-28              (1)  contracting with a physician to provide services
   1-29  at the clinic;
   1-30              (2)  paying a physician a minimum guarantee to assure
   1-31  the physician's availability;
   1-32              (3)  billing to and collecting from patients as the
   1-33  physician's agent the physician's professional fees; or
   1-34              (4)  retaining any professional fees collected under
   1-35  Subdivision (3) of this subsection up to the amount of the minimum
   1-36  guaranteed fee and a reasonable collection fee.
   1-37        (h)  In Subsection (g), "financially indigent population"
   1-38  means persons meeting Medicaid eligibility requirements or
   1-39  uninsured persons who are accepted for care with no obligation to
   1-40  pay or with a discounted obligation to pay for services rendered
   1-41  based on the clinic's eligibility system.
   1-42        SECTION 2.  The importance of this legislation and the
   1-43  crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
   1-44  emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
   1-45  constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
   1-46  days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
   1-47                               * * * * *
   1-48                                                         Austin,
   1-49  Texas
   1-50                                                         May 11, 1993
   1-51  Hon. Bob Bullock
   1-52  President of the Senate
   1-53  Sir:
   1-54  We, your Committee on Health and Human Services to which was
   1-55  referred H.B. No. 1972, have had the same under consideration, and
   1-56  I am instructed to report it back to the Senate with the
   1-57  recommendation that it do pass and be printed.
   1-58                                                         Zaffirini,
   1-59  Chair
   1-60                               * * * * *
   1-61                               WITNESSES
   1-62                                                  FOR   AGAINST  ON
   1-63  ___________________________________________________________________
   1-64  Name:  David Marwitz                             x
   1-65  Representing:  Tx Hospital Association
   1-66  City:  Austin
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   1-68  Name:  William L. Broussard                      x
    2-1  Representing:  Tx Conference Catholic Health
    2-2  City:  Austin
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