By:  Bernsen                                           S.B. No. 216
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to the funding of telecommunications infrastructure for
 1-3     telemedicine services.
 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-5           SECTION 1.  Subdivision (11), Section 57.042, Utilities Code,
 1-6     is amended to read as follows:
 1-7                 (11)  "Telemedicine":
 1-8                       (A)  means medical services delivered by
 1-9     telecommunications technologies to rural or underserved public
1-10     not-for-profit health care facilities, for-profit rural hospitals,
1-11     or primary health care facilities in collaboration with an academic
1-12     health center and an associated teaching hospital or tertiary
1-13     center or with another public not-for-profit health care facility
1-14     or for-profit rural hospital; and
1-15                       (B)  includes consultive services, diagnostic
1-16     services, interactive video consultation, teleradiology,
1-17     telepathology, and distance education for working health care
1-18     professionals.
1-19           SECTION 2.  Section 57.047, Utilities Code, is amended by
1-20     adding Subsection (g) to read as follows:
1-21           (g)  In awarding a grant or loan under this section for a
1-22     telemedicine project the board shall:
1-23                 (1)  give priority to:
1-24                       (A)  a public not-for-profit health care facility
1-25     that provides care to the medically underserved or uninsured; and
 2-1                       (B)  a for-profit rural hospital that
 2-2     demonstrates a strong record of providing care to the medically
 2-3     underserved or uninsured; and
 2-4                 (2)  adopt rules prescribing the criteria a for-profit
 2-5     rural hospital must meet regarding service to the medically
 2-6     underserved or uninsured under Subdivision (1)(B).
 2-7           SECTION 3.  Subsection (a), Section 58.253, Utilities Code,
 2-8     is amended to read as follows:
 2-9           (a)  On customer request, an electing company shall provide
2-10     private network services to:
2-11                 (1)  an educational institution;
2-12                 (2)  a library;
2-13                 (3)  a nonprofit telemedicine center;
2-14                 (4)  a public or not-for-profit hospital;
2-15                 (5)  a project funded by the telecommunications
2-16     infrastructure fund under Subchapter C, Chapter 57, except that an
2-17     electing company may not be required to provide private network
2-18     services to a for-profit rural hospital; [or]
2-19                 (6)  a legally constituted consortium or group of
2-20     entities listed in this subsection; or
2-21                 (7)  an ambulatory health care center, as defined by
2-22     Section 57.042.
2-23           SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.