1-1 By: Thompson (Senate Sponsor - Madla) H.B. No. 2050
1-2 (In the Senate - Received from the House May 11, 1999;
1-3 May 12, 1999, read first time and referred to Committee on Health
1-4 Services; May 14, 1999, reported favorably by the following vote:
1-5 Yeas 5, Nays 0; May 14, 1999, sent to printer.)
1-6 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-7 AN ACT
1-8 relating to the regulation of the practice of acupuncture.
1-9 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-10 SECTION 1. Section 6.05, Medical Practice Act (Article
1-11 4495b, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended to read as
1-12 follows:
1-13 Sec. 6.05. Powers and Duties of Acupuncture Board. (a)
1-14 Subject to the advice and approval of the medical board, the
1-15 acupuncture board shall:
1-16 (1) establish qualifications for an acupuncturist to
1-17 practice in this state;
1-18 (2) establish minimum educational and training
1-19 requirements necessary for the acupuncture board to recommend that
1-20 the medical board issue a license to practice acupuncture;
1-21 (3) administer an examination that is validated by
1-22 independent testing professionals for a license to practice
1-23 acupuncture;
1-24 (4) develop requirements for licensure by endorsement
1-25 of other states;
1-26 (5) prescribe the application form for a license to
1-27 practice acupuncture;
1-28 (6) make recommendations on applications for licenses
1-29 to practice acupuncture;
1-30 (7) develop and implement policies that provide the
1-31 public with a reasonable opportunity to appear before the
1-32 acupuncture board and to speak on any issue under the jurisdiction
1-33 of the acupuncture board;
1-34 (8) [establish the requirements for a tutorial program
1-35 for students who have completed at least 48 semester hours of
1-36 college;]
1-37 [(9)] develop and implement policies that clearly
1-38 separate the policymaking responsibilities of the acupuncture board
1-39 and the management responsibilities of the executive director and
1-40 the staff of the medical board; and
1-41 (9) [(10)] recommend additional rules as are necessary
1-42 for the administration and enforcement of this subchapter.
1-43 (b) The acupuncture board shall, by rule and without the
1-44 advice or approval of the medical board, establish minimum
1-45 educational and training requirements necessary for the acupuncture
1-46 board to recommend that the medical board issue a license to
1-47 practice acupuncture. In establishing the requirements, the
1-48 acupuncture board shall consider adopting the minimum educational
1-49 and training requirements established by the Accreditation
1-50 Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine.
1-51 (c) The acupuncture board shall comply with federal and
1-52 state laws related to program and facility accessibility. The
1-53 executive director of the medical board shall prepare and maintain
1-54 a written plan that describes how a person who does not speak
1-55 English can be provided reasonable access to the acupuncture
1-56 board's programs and services.
1-57 [(c) Notwithstanding Subsection (a) of this section, the
1-58 acupuncture board has no independent rulemaking authority.]
1-59 SECTION 2. Section 6.07(d), Medical Practice Act (Article
1-60 4495b, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended to read as
1-61 follows:
1-62 (d) In establishing standards for the entrance requirements
1-63 and course of instruction of an acupuncture school, the acupuncture
1-64 board shall adopt [may consider] the same standards set by the
2-1 [National] Accreditation Commission for [Schools and Colleges of]
2-2 Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine.
2-3 SECTION 3. Section 6.075(a), Medical Practice Act (Article
2-4 4495b, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended to read as
2-5 follows:
2-6 (a) The acupuncture board may, through the executive
2-7 director of the medical board, issue a temporary license to an
2-8 applicant who:
2-9 (1) submits an application on a form prescribed by the
2-10 acupuncture board;
2-11 (2) has passed a national or other examination
2-12 recognized by the acupuncture board relating to the practice of
2-13 acupuncture;
2-14 (3) pays the appropriate fee prescribed by the
2-15 acupuncture [medical] board;
2-16 (4) if licensed in another state, the District of
2-17 Columbia, or a territory of the United States, is in good standing
2-18 as an acupuncturist; and
2-19 (5) meets all the qualifications for a license under
2-20 this Act but is waiting for the next scheduled meeting of the
2-21 medical board for the license to be issued.
2-22 SECTION 4. Section 6.09, Medical Practice Act (Article
2-23 4495b, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended to read as
2-24 follows:
2-25 Sec. 6.09. Fees. (a) The acupuncture [medical] board shall
2-26 set and collect fees in amounts that are reasonable and necessary
2-27 to cover the costs of administering and enforcing this subchapter
2-28 without the use of any other funds generated by the medical board.
2-29 (b) Fees collected by the acupuncture [medical] board under
2-30 this subchapter shall be deposited by the acupuncture [medical]
2-31 board in the state treasury to the credit of an account in the
2-32 general revenue fund and may be expended to cover the costs of
2-33 administering and enforcing this subchapter. At the end of each
2-34 fiscal biennium, the comptroller shall transfer any surplus money
2-35 remaining in the account to the general revenue fund.
2-36 (c) All money paid to the acupuncture [medical] board under
2-37 this subchapter is subject to Subchapter F, Chapter 404, Government
2-38 Code.
2-39 (d) The acupuncture [medical] board shall prepare annually a
2-40 complete and detailed written report accounting for all funds
2-41 received and disbursed by the acupuncture [medical] board under
2-42 this subchapter during the preceding fiscal year. The annual
2-43 report must meet the reporting requirements applicable to financial
2-44 reporting provided in the General Appropriations Act.
2-45 SECTION 5. Sections 6.10(d), (e), (f), and (h), Medical
2-46 Practice Act (Article 4495b, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), are
2-47 amended to read as follows:
2-48 (d) A person who is otherwise eligible to renew a license
2-49 may renew an unexpired license by paying the required renewal fee
2-50 to the acupuncture [medical] board before the expiration date of
2-51 the license. A person whose license has expired may not engage in
2-52 activities that require a license until the license has been
2-53 renewed under the provisions of this section.
2-54 (e) If the person's license has been expired for 90 days or
2-55 less, the person may renew the license by paying to the acupuncture
2-56 [medical] board one and one-half times the required renewal fee.
2-57 (f) If the person's license has been expired for longer than
2-58 90 days but less than one year, the person may renew the license by
2-59 paying to the acupuncture [medical] board two times the required
2-60 renewal fee.
2-61 (h) If the person was licensed in this state, moved to
2-62 another state, and is currently licensed and has been in practice
2-63 in the other state for the two years preceding application, the
2-64 person may renew an expired license without reexamination. The
2-65 person must pay to the acupuncture [medical] board a fee that is
2-66 equal to two times the required renewal fee for the license.
2-67 SECTION 6. Section 6.115(a), Medical Practice Act (Article
2-68 4495b, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended to read as
2-69 follows:
3-1 (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) of this section, a
3-2 license to practice acupuncture shall be denied or, after notice
3-3 and hearing, revoked if the holder of a license has performed
3-4 acupuncture on a person who was not evaluated by a physician or
3-5 dentist, as appropriate, for the condition being treated within 12
3-6 [six] months before the date acupuncture was performed.
3-7 SECTION 7. The importance of this legislation and the
3-8 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-9 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-10 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-11 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
3-12 * * * * *