By Jones of Lubbock H.B. No. 959
76R4332 MXM-F
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the regulation of the practice of chiropractic.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Chapter 94, Acts of the 51st Legislature,
1-5 Regular Session, 1949 (Article 4512b, Vernon's Texas Civil
1-6 Statutes), is amended by adding Section 5b to read as follows:
1-7 Sec. 5b. PRACTICE BY PERSONS WHO EMPLOY OR SUPERVISE
1-8 CHIROPRACTORS. (a) A person who owns, maintains, or operates an
1-9 office or place of business in which the person employs, directs,
1-10 supervises, or otherwise controls, regardless of whether under a
1-11 contract, another person for the purpose of practicing chiropractic
1-12 is required to obtain a license under this Act and comply with the
1-13 requirements of this Act. A person subject to this section is not
1-14 exempt from the license requirements of this Act on the grounds
1-15 that the other person employed, directed, supervised, or otherwise
1-16 controlled by the person is licensed under this Act.
1-17 (b) A person who violates this section is engaged in the
1-18 practice of chiropractic without a license for the purposes of
1-19 Section 5a of this Act.
1-20 (c) This section does not require the following persons or
1-21 entities to obtain a license to employ a licensed chiropractor:
1-22 (1) a managed care organization;
1-23 (2) a professional association formed under the Texas
1-24 Professional Association Act (Article 1528f, Vernon's Texas Civil
2-1 Statutes);
2-2 (3) a spouse of a chiropractor who inherits the
2-3 chiropractor's chiropractic facility;
2-4 (4) the administrator or executor of the estate of a
2-5 chiropractor; or
2-6 (5) a person legally authorized to act for a mentally
2-7 incompetent chiropractor.
2-8 (d) A person to whom Subsection (c)(1), (2), or (3) applies
2-9 may not directly or indirectly control or attempt to control or
2-10 influence the professional judgment of a licensed chiropractor with
2-11 regard to the diagnosis or treatment of a patient.
2-12 (e) A licensed chiropractor employed by a person under
2-13 Subsection (c)(4) or (5) may practice chiropractic for a reasonable
2-14 time, as determined by the board, to carry out the practice of the
2-15 deceased or mentally incompetent chiropractor or to otherwise
2-16 conclude the affairs of the practice, including the sale of the
2-17 remaining assets of the practice.
2-18 (f) A person who is not licensed under this Act, and who
2-19 owns, maintains, or operates a licensed chiropractic facility in
2-20 this state on September 1, 1999, is not required to be licensed
2-21 under this Act to continue to own, maintain, or operate that
2-22 facility, but the person may not own, maintain, or operate an
2-23 additional chiropractic facility after September 1, 1999, without
2-24 holding a license issued under this Act. For purposes of this
2-25 subsection, the relocation of a chiropractic facility for which a
2-26 person is exempt under this subsection does not cause that facility
2-27 to be considered an additional chiropractic facility.
3-1 (g) In an action brought by the board against a person for
3-2 violating this section, the board is entitled to recover reasonable
3-3 attorney's fees, in addition to any other relief allowed by law.
3-4 SECTION 2. Section 12a, Chapter 94, Acts of the 51st
3-5 Legislature, Regular Session, 1949 (Article 4512b, Vernon's Texas
3-6 Civil Statutes), is amended to read as follows:
3-7 Sec. 12a. LICENSING OF CHIROPRACTIC FACILITIES; ADOPTION OF
3-8 RULES. (a) The Board shall adopt rules for the licensing and
3-9 regulation of owners or operators of chiropractic facilities as
3-10 necessary to protect the public health, safety, and welfare. A
3-11 rule adopted by the Board under this section must:
3-12 (1) specify the licensing requirements for a
3-13 chiropractic facility;
3-14 (2) set out the structure of the facility licensing
3-15 program; and
3-16 (3) provide that the Board shall issue one facility
3-17 license to an owner of a chiropractic facility for each
3-18 chiropractic facility location [without regard to the number of
3-19 chiropractic facilities] owned by the owner.
3-20 (b) The Board shall conduct inspections of a chiropractic
3-21 facility as necessary to determine compliance with this Act and
3-22 rules adopted under this Act and to protect the public health,
3-23 safety, and welfare.
3-24 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
3-25 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
3-26 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-27 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-1 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-2 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
4-3 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT NO. 1
4-4 Amend H.B. No. 959 on page 2, by striking lines 18-27 and
4-5 substituting:
4-6 (f) A nonlicensed person who owns, maintains, or operates a
4-7 chiropractic facility in this state on September 1, 1999, and whose
4-8 chiropractic facility is licensed pursuant to this Act on the
4-9 effective date of this section shall not be required to be licensed
4-10 to practice chiropractic under this Act but shall not be permitted
4-11 to own, maintain, or operate any additional chiropractic facilities
4-12 after September 1, 1999; provided, however, that nothing in this
4-13 section shall be construed to prevent the relocation of an existing
4-14 chiropractic facility.
4-15 76R7830 MXM-F Hilderbran
4-16 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT NO. 2
4-17 Amend H.B. 959 as follows:
4-18 Amend SECTION 1 by revising Subsections (c)(4) and (c)(5),
4-19 and adding Subsection (c)(6), as follows:
4-20 (4) the administrator or executor of the estate of a
4-21 chiropractor; [(or)]
4-22 (5) a person legally authorized to act for a mentally
4-23 incompetent chiropractor; or
4-24 (6) a facility licensed under Chapter 241 or Chapter
4-25 242, Health and Safety Code.
4-26 Hilderbran
4-27 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT NO. 3
5-1 Amend H.B. 959 by adding new SECTION 3 to read as follows,
5-2 and by renumbering existing SECTIONS 3 and 4 as SECTIONS 4 and 5:
5-3 SECTION 3. Section 2(B), Art. 1528f, is amended to read as
5-4 follows:
5-5 (B) Licenses. (1) Except as provided by Subdivision (2) of
5-6 this subsection, all members of the association shall be licensed
5-7 to perform the type of professional service for which the
5-8 association is formed.
5-9 (2) Doctors of medicine and osteopathy licensed by the Texas
5-10 State Board of Medical Examiners, chiropractors licensed by the
5-11 Texas Board of Chiropractic Examiners, and podiatrists licensed by
5-12 the Texas State Board of Podiatric Medical Examiners may form an
5-13 association that is jointly owned by those practitioners to perform
5-14 a professional service that falls within the scope of those
5-15 practitioners.
5-16 (3) When doctors of medicine, osteopathy, chiropractic, and
5-17 podiatry form an association that is jointly owned by those
5-18 practitioners, the authority of each of the practitioners is
5-19 limited by the scope of practice of the respective practitioners
5-20 and none can exercise control over the other's clinical authority
5-21 granted by their respective licenses, either through agreements,
5-22 bylaws, directives, financial incentives, or other arrangements
5-23 that would assert control over treatment decisions made by the
5-24 practitioner. The Texas State Board of Medical Examiners, the
5-25 Texas Board of Chiropractic Examiners, and the Texas State Board of
5-26 Podiatric Medical Examiners continue to exercise regulatory
5-27 authority over their respective licenses.
6-1 Glaze