By Menendez                                           H.B. No. 2241
         77R6677 KLA-D                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to the creation of a state prescription drug program for
 1-3     certain Medicare beneficiaries.
 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-5           SECTION 1. Chapter 531, Government Code, is amended by adding
 1-6     Subchapter I to read as follows:
 1-7               SUBCHAPTER I.  STATE PRESCRIPTION DRUG PROGRAM
 1-8           Sec. 531.301.  DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF STATE
 1-9     PROGRAM; FUNDING. (a)  The commission shall develop and implement a
1-10     state prescription drug program that operates in the same manner as
1-11     the vendor drug program operates in providing prescription drug
1-12     benefits to recipients of medical assistance under Chapter 32,
1-13     Human Resources Code.
1-14           (b)  A person is eligible for prescription drug benefits
1-15     under the state program if the person is:
1-16                 (1)  a qualified Medicare beneficiary, as defined by 42
1-17     U.S.C. Section 1396d(p)(1), as amended; or
1-18                 (2)  a specified low-income Medicare beneficiary who is
1-19     eligible for medical assistance for Medicare cost-sharing payments
1-20     under 42 U.S.C. Section 1396a(a)(10)(E)(iii), as amended.
1-21           (c)  Prescription drugs under the state program may be funded
1-22     only with state money unless block grant funds are available under
1-23     federal law to fund all or part of the program.
1-24           Sec. 531.302.  RULES. (a)  The commission shall adopt all
 2-1     rules necessary for implementation of the state prescription drug
 2-2     program.
 2-3           (b)  Except as provided by this subchapter, the rules must be
 2-4     designed to result in a state program that is substantively
 2-5     identical to the vendor drug program operated under the medical
 2-6     assistance program under Chapter 32, Human Resources Code, except
 2-7     to the extent that programmatic differences are appropriate because
 2-8     of the populations served by those programs and the sources of
 2-9     funding for those programs.
2-10           Sec. 531.303.  COST-SHARING PAYMENTS PROHIBITED. The
2-11     commission may not require a person who is eligible for
2-12     prescription drug benefits under the state program to pay a
2-13     premium, a deductible, coinsurance, or another cost-sharing
2-14     payment.
2-15           Sec. 531.304.  GENERIC EQUIVALENT AUTHORIZED. In adopting
2-16     rules under the state program, the commission may require that,
2-17     unless the practitioner's signature on a prescription clearly
2-18     indicates that the prescription must be dispensed as written, the
2-19     pharmacist may select a generic equivalent of the prescribed drug.
2-20           Sec. 531.305.  COMPLIANCE WITH BLOCK GRANT PROGRAM
2-21     REQUIREMENTS.  Notwithstanding any provision of this subchapter,
2-22     the commission by rule shall modify the state prescription drug
2-23     program to comply with any prerequisite imposed under the federal
2-24     law for receiving block grant funds available under the federal law
2-25     to fund all or part of the program.
2-26           SECTION 2. Not later than January 1, 2002, the Health and
2-27     Human Services Commission shall develop and implement the state
 3-1     prescription drug program under Subchapter I, Chapter 531,
 3-2     Government Code, as added by this Act.
 3-3           SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.