By Turner                                              S.B. No. 972
       74R5237 JMM-D
                                 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
    1-1                                AN ACT
    1-2  relating to the prohibition of certain dental referral services;
    1-3  providing a penalty.
    1-4        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
    1-5        SECTION 1.  DEFINITIONS.  In this Act:
    1-6              (1)  "Dental care service" means a service incident to
    1-7  the practice of dentistry under the laws of this state.
    1-8              (2)  "Dental referral plan" means a plan under which a
    1-9  person undertakes to refer or recommend dental care services or to
   1-10  arrange for the availability of dental care services from one or
   1-11  more participating dentists on a fee-for-service basis.  The term
   1-12  does not include a single health care service health maintenance
   1-13  organization established under the Texas Health Maintenance
   1-14  Organization Act (Chapter 20A, Vernon's Texas Insurance Code).
   1-15              (3)  "Dental referral plan organization" means a person
   1-16  that arranges for or provides a dental referral plan to the
   1-17  person's members for a fee or other consideration.
   1-18              (4)  "Dentist" means a person licensed to practice
   1-19  dentistry in this state.
   1-20              (5)  "Person" means an individual, partnership,
   1-21  association, organization, trust, corporation, or other entity.
   1-22        SECTION 2.  DENTAL REFERRAL PLANS PROHIBITED.  (a)
   1-23  Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a person may not act as
   1-24  a dental referral plan organization.
    2-1        (b)  A dentist may not participate in a dental referral plan
    2-2  organization or knowingly accept a patient referred to the dentist
    2-3  by a dental referral plan organization.
    2-4        SECTION 3.  PENALTY.  A person, including a dentist, commits
    2-5  an offense if the person violates Section 2 of this Act.  An
    2-6  offense under this section is a Class A misdemeanor.
    2-7        SECTION 4.  EFFECTIVE DATE.  This Act takes effect September
    2-8  1, 1995.
    2-9        SECTION 5.  EMERGENCY.  The importance of this legislation
   2-10  and the crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
   2-11  emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
   2-12  constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
   2-13  days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.