LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD
                          Austin, Texas

                           FISCAL NOTE
                       74th Regular Session

                          March 12, 1995



 TO:     Honorable Hugo Berlanga, Chair         IN RE:  House BillNo. 1345,
         Committee on Public Health                            as amended
         House of Representatives                       By: Hamric
         Austin, Texas








FROM: John Keel, Director

In response to your request for a Fiscal Note on House Bill No.
1345 (relating to tests for human immunodeficiency virus
infection of pregnant women or on delivery of a child) this
office has determined the following:

The bill would make no appropriation but could provide the legal
basis for an appropriation of funds to implement the provisions
of the bill.

The bill would require physicians attending pregnant women during
gestation or at delivery to test the woman for HIV infection. 
The Texas Department of Health would be required to design,
prepare, and provide to health care providers materials to inform
patients about incidence, mode of transmission, and treatments
available for certain sexually transmitted diseases.

The assumptions in the fiscal implications noted below include: 
fifty (50) percent of the specimens would be sent to the Texas
Department of Health for testing; some costs would accrue to the
Department for treatment of patients testing positive and it is
assumed that fifty percent of patients testing positive would be
eligible for Medicaid or the HIV Medication program; and first
year costs are phased in due to the fact that the provisions of
the bill would only apply to physicians attending pregnant women
on or after January 1, 1996.

The probable fiscal implication of implementing the provisions of
the bill during each of the first  five years following passage    




is estimated as follows:
 


          Fiscal  Probable Cost Out    Probable  Revenue 
          Year       of  General      Gain from  Federal 
                  Revenue Fund 001        Funds  555     
                                                         
          1996              $516,549              $30,506
          1997               774,823               45,327
                                                         
          1998               774,823               45,327
                                                         
          1999               774,823               45,327
          2000               774,823               45,327
                                                         
                                                         
                                                         


Similar annual fiscal implications would continue as long as the
provisions of the bill are in effect.

The fiscal implication to  units of local government cannot be
determined.


Source:   Department of Health
          LBB Staff: JK, KF, DF