By Thompson H.B. No. 2050
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the regulation of the practice of acupuncture.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Section 6.05, Medical Practice Act (Article
1-5 4495b, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended to read as
1-6 follows:
1-7 Sec. 6.05. Powers and Duties of Acupuncture Board. (a)
1-8 Subject to the advice and approval of the medical board, the
1-9 acupuncture board shall:
1-10 (1) establish qualifications for an acupuncturist to
1-11 practice in this state;
1-12 (2) establish minimum educational and training
1-13 requirements necessary for the acupuncture board to recommend that
1-14 the medical board issue a license to practice acupuncture;
1-15 (3) administer an examination that is validated by
1-16 independent testing professionals for a license to practice
1-17 acupuncture;
1-18 (4) develop requirements for licensure by endorsement
1-19 of other states;
1-20 (5) prescribe the application form for a license to
1-21 practice acupuncture;
1-22 (6) make recommendations on applications for licenses
1-23 to practice acupuncture;
1-24 (7) develop and implement policies that provide the
2-1 public with a reasonable opportunity to appear before the
2-2 acupuncture board and to speak on any issue under the jurisdiction
2-3 of the acupuncture board;
2-4 (8) [establish the requirements for a tutorial program
2-5 for students who have completed at least 48 semester hours of
2-6 college;]
2-7 [(9)] develop and implement policies that clearly
2-8 separate the policymaking responsibilities of the acupuncture board
2-9 and the management responsibilities of the executive director and
2-10 the staff of the medical board; and
2-11 (9) [(10)] recommend additional rules as are necessary
2-12 for the administration and enforcement of this subchapter.
2-13 (b) The acupuncture board shall, by rule and without the
2-14 advice or approval of the medical board, establish minimum
2-15 educational and training requirements necessary for the acupuncture
2-16 board to recommend that the medical board issue a license to
2-17 practice acupuncture. In establishing the requirements, the
2-18 acupuncture board shall consider adopting the minimum educational
2-19 and training requirements established by the Accreditation
2-20 Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine.
2-21 (c) The acupuncture board shall comply with federal and
2-22 state laws related to program and facility accessibility. The
2-23 executive director of the medical board shall prepare and maintain
2-24 a written plan that describes how a person who does not speak
2-25 English can be provided reasonable access to the acupuncture
2-26 board's programs and services.
2-27 [(c) Notwithstanding Subsection (a) of this section, the
3-1 acupuncture board has no independent rulemaking authority.]
3-2 SECTION 2. Section 6.07(d), Medical Practice Act (Article
3-3 4495b, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended to read as
3-4 follows:
3-5 (d) In establishing standards for the entrance requirements
3-6 and course of instruction of an acupuncture school, the acupuncture
3-7 board shall adopt [may consider] the same standards set by the
3-8 [National] Accreditation Commission for [Schools and Colleges of]
3-9 Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine.
3-10 SECTION 3. Section 6.075(a), Medical Practice Act (Article
3-11 4495b, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended to read as
3-12 follows:
3-13 (a) The acupuncture board may, through the executive
3-14 director of the medical board, issue a temporary license to an
3-15 applicant who:
3-16 (1) submits an application on a form prescribed by the
3-17 acupuncture board;
3-18 (2) has passed a national or other examination
3-19 recognized by the acupuncture board relating to the practice of
3-20 acupuncture;
3-21 (3) pays the appropriate fee prescribed by the
3-22 acupuncture [medical] board;
3-23 (4) if licensed in another state, the District of
3-24 Columbia, or a territory of the United States, is in good standing
3-25 as an acupuncturist; and
3-26 (5) meets all the qualifications for a license under
3-27 this Act but is waiting for the next scheduled meeting of the
4-1 medical board for the license to be issued.
4-2 SECTION 4. Section 6.09, Medical Practice Act (Article
4-3 4495b, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended to read as
4-4 follows:
4-5 Sec. 6.09. Fees. (a) The acupuncture [medical] board shall
4-6 set and collect fees in amounts that are reasonable and necessary
4-7 to cover the costs of administering and enforcing this subchapter
4-8 without the use of any other funds generated by the medical board.
4-9 (b) Fees collected by the acupuncture [medical] board under
4-10 this subchapter shall be deposited by the acupuncture [medical]
4-11 board in the state treasury to the credit of an account in the
4-12 general revenue fund and may be expended to cover the costs of
4-13 administering and enforcing this subchapter. At the end of each
4-14 fiscal biennium, the comptroller shall transfer any surplus money
4-15 remaining in the account to the general revenue fund.
4-16 (c) All money paid to the acupuncture [medical] board under
4-17 this subchapter is subject to Subchapter F, Chapter 404, Government
4-18 Code.
4-19 (d) The acupuncture [medical] board shall prepare annually a
4-20 complete and detailed written report accounting for all funds
4-21 received and disbursed by the acupuncture [medical] board under
4-22 this subchapter during the preceding fiscal year. The annual
4-23 report must meet the reporting requirements applicable to financial
4-24 reporting provided in the General Appropriations Act.
4-25 SECTION 5. Sections 6.10(d), (e), (f), and (h), Medical
4-26 Practice Act (Article 4495b, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), are
4-27 amended to read as follows:
5-1 (d) A person who is otherwise eligible to renew a license
5-2 may renew an unexpired license by paying the required renewal fee
5-3 to the acupuncture [medical] board before the expiration date of
5-4 the license. A person whose license has expired may not engage in
5-5 activities that require a license until the license has been
5-6 renewed under the provisions of this section.
5-7 (e) If the person's license has been expired for 90 days or
5-8 less, the person may renew the license by paying to the acupuncture
5-9 [medical] board one and one-half times the required renewal fee.
5-10 (f) If the person's license has been expired for longer than
5-11 90 days but less than one year, the person may renew the license by
5-12 paying to the acupuncture [medical] board two times the required
5-13 renewal fee.
5-14 (h) If the person was licensed in this state, moved to
5-15 another state, and is currently licensed and has been in practice
5-16 in the other state for the two years preceding application, the
5-17 person may renew an expired license without reexamination. The
5-18 person must pay to the acupuncture [medical] board a fee that is
5-19 equal to two times the required renewal fee for the license.
5-20 SECTION 6. Section 6.115(a), Medical Practice Act (Article
5-21 4495b, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended to read as
5-22 follows:
5-23 (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) of this section, a
5-24 license to practice acupuncture shall be denied or, after notice
5-25 and hearing, revoked if the holder of a license has performed
5-26 acupuncture on a person who was not evaluated by a physician or
5-27 dentist, as appropriate, for the condition being treated within 12
6-1 [six] months before the date acupuncture was performed.
6-2 SECTION 7. The importance of this legislation and the
6-3 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
6-4 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
6-5 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
6-6 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.