By Zaffirini                                           S.R. No. 842

         75R15462 DLF-D                           

                                 R E S O L U T I O N

 1-1           BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the State of Texas, 75th

 1-2     Legislature, Regular Session, 1997, That Senate Rule 12.03 be

 1-3     suspended in part as provided by Senate Rule 12.08 to enable the

 1-4     conference committee appointed to resolve the differences on Senate

 1-5     Bill No. 190 to consider and take action on the following specific

 1-6     matters:

 1-7           1.  Senate  Rule  12.03(1)  is  suspended  to   permit   the

 1-8     committee  to  change the amount of the penalty imposed under

 1-9     Section 242.0665(c), Health and Safety Code, in Section 1.17 of the

1-10     bill, so that the subsection reads as follows:

1-11           (c)  An institution that corrects a violation under

1-12     Subsection (a) must maintain the correction.  If the institution

1-13     fails to maintain the correction until at least the first

1-14     anniversary of the date the correction was made, the department may

1-15     assess an administrative penalty under this subchapter for the

1-16     subsequent violation.  A penalty assessed under this subsection

1-17     shall be equal to three times the amount of the penalty assessed

1-18     but not collected under Subsection (a).  The department is not

1-19     required to provide the institution an opportunity to correct the

1-20     subsequent violation under this section.

1-21           Explanation: This change is necessary to provide an

1-22     appropriate penalty for a violation that occurs after an

1-23     institution has exercised its right to correct a violation.

1-24           2.  Senate Rule 12.03(2) is suspended to permit the committee

 2-1     to omit text from Section 242.603(d), Health and Safety Code, in

 2-2     Section 1.30 of the bill, so that the subsection reads as follows:

 2-3           (d)  An institution shall release the medications of a

 2-4     resident who is transferred directly to another institution or who

 2-5     is discharged to home to the new institution or to the resident or

 2-6     resident's next of kin or guardian, as appropriate.  The

 2-7     institution may release a medication to a resident only on the

 2-8     written or verbal authorization of the attending physician.

 2-9           Explanation:  This change corrects a grammatical error by

2-10     omitting an unnecessary "or."

2-11           3.  Senate Rules 12.03(1) and (3) are suspended to permit the

2-12     committee to change the text of Section 32.021(m), Human Resources

2-13     Code, in Section 2.01 of the bill, so that the subsection reads as

2-14     follows:

2-15           (m)  Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary,

2-16     the department shall terminate a nursing facility's provider

2-17     agreement if the department has imposed required Category 2 or

2-18     Category 3 remedies on the facility three times within a 24-month

2-19     period unless the department makes an affirmative finding that good

2-20     cause exists to waive this requirement to facilitate a change in

2-21     ownership to protect residents of a facility.  In this subsection,

2-22     "Category 2 remedies" and  "Category 3 remedies" have the meanings

2-23     assigned by 42 C.F.R. Section 488.408.

2-24           Explanation:  This change is necessary to provide appropriate

2-25     references to the federal regulations to which the subsection

2-26     refers.