75R11580 MCK-D
By Maxey, Coleman H.B. No. 179
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 179:
By Berlanga C.S.H.B. No. 179
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the employment of a dentist by a nonprofit health
1-3 organization that primarily provides services to individuals who
1-4 have AIDS or the human immunodeficiency virus.
1-5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-6 SECTION 1. Articles 4551n(a) and (b), Revised Statutes, are
1-7 amended to read as follows:
1-8 (a) The Board shall, on a form and under rules adopted by
1-9 the Board, approve and certify any health organization to contract
1-10 with or employ dentists licensed by the Board on application by the
1-11 organization and presentation of satisfactory proof to the Board
1-12 that the organization:
1-13 (1) is a nonprofit corporation under the Texas
1-14 Non-Profit Corporation Act (Article 1396-1.01 et seq., Vernon's
1-15 Texas Civil Statutes) and Section 501(c)(3), Internal Revenue Code
1-16 of 1986 (26 U.S.C. Section 501); and
1-17 (2) is organized and operated as:
1-18 (A) a migrant, community, or homeless health
1-19 center under the authority of and in compliance with 42 U.S.C.
1-20 Section 254b, 254c, or 256 or as a federally qualified health
1-21 center under 42 U.S.C. Section 1396d(l)(2)(B);
1-22 (B) a clinic that provides dental services
1-23 primarily to individuals who have AIDS or the human
1-24 immunodeficiency virus; or
2-1 (C) a clinic otherwise approved by the Board as
2-2 a clinic that provides services to underserved populations for no
2-3 fee or a reduced fee.
2-4 (b) Any dentist providing dental services under Subsection
2-5 (a)(2)(A), (B), or (C) [(a)] of this article shall provide those
2-6 services free of charge or at a reduced fee commensurate with the
2-7 patient's ability to pay in strict compliance with the applicable
2-8 provisions of 42 U.S.C. Section 254b, 254c, or 256.
2-9 SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.
2-10 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
2-11 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-12 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-13 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-14 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.