By Gray H.B. No. 517
76R376 KLA-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to Medicaid reimbursement for certain medical
1-3 consultations.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Sections 531.047(a), (b), and (c), Government
1-6 Code, as added by Chapter 1251, Acts of the 75th Legislature,
1-7 Regular Session, 1997, are amended to read as follows:
1-8 (a) In this section:
1-9 (1) "Health professional" means an advanced nurse
1-10 practitioner, an allied health professional, a mental health
1-11 professional, a physician, or a physician assistant who is licensed
1-12 in this state.
1-13 (2) "Health ["Rural county" means a county with a
1-14 population of less than 50,000.]
1-15 [(3) "Rural health] facility" means [a health facility
1-16 that is located in a rural county and at least 30 miles from any
1-17 accredited medical school or any teaching hospital affiliated with
1-18 an accredited medical school and that is]:
1-19 (A) a licensed, nonprofit hospital; or
1-20 (B) a health clinic that is affiliated with:
1-21 (i) an accredited medical school; or
1-22 (ii) a teaching hospital that is
1-23 affiliated with an accredited medical school.
1-24 (3) [(4)] "Telemedical consultation" means a medical
2-1 consultation for purposes of patient diagnosis or treatment that
2-2 requires the use of advanced telecommunications technology,
2-3 including:
2-4 (A) compressed digital interactive video, audio,
2-5 or data transmission;
2-6 (B) clinical data transmission via computer
2-7 imaging for teleradiology or telepathology; and
2-8 (C) other technology that facilitates access [in
2-9 rural counties] to health care services or medical specialty
2-10 expertise.
2-11 (b) The commission by rule shall require each health and
2-12 human services agency that administers a part of the Medicaid
2-13 program to provide Medicaid reimbursement for a telemedical
2-14 consultation provided by a physician licensed in this state who
2-15 practices in:
2-16 (1) a [rural] health facility;
2-17 (2) an accredited medical school; or
2-18 (3) a teaching hospital that is affiliated with an
2-19 accredited medical school.
2-20 (c) The commission shall ensure that reimbursement is
2-21 provided only for a consultation provided by a physician described
2-22 in Subsection (b) to a health professional [who practices in a
2-23 rural county].
2-24 SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
2-25 SECTION 3. If before implementing any provision of this Act
2-26 a state agency determines that a waiver or authorization from a
2-27 federal agency is necessary for implementation of that provision,
3-1 the agency affected by the provision shall request the waiver or
3-2 authorization and may delay implementing that provision until the
3-3 waiver or authorization is granted.
3-4 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
3-5 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-6 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-7 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-8 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.