1-1     By:  Bernsen                                           S.B. No. 216
 1-2           (In the Senate - Filed January 10, 2001; January 16, 2001,
 1-3     read first time and referred to Committee on Education;
 1-4     March 19, 2001, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
 1-5     Substitute by the following vote:  Yeas 8, Nays 0; March 19, 2001,
 1-6     sent to printer.)
 1-7     COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 216                   By:  Sibley
 1-8                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-9                                   AN ACT
1-10     relating to the funding of telecommunications infrastructure for
1-11     telemedicine services.
1-12           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-13           SECTION 1.  Subdivision (11), Section 57.042, Utilities Code,
1-14     is amended to read as follows:
1-15                 (11)  "Telemedicine":
1-16                       (A)  means medical services delivered by
1-17     telecommunications technologies to rural or underserved public
1-18     not-for-profit health care facilities, for-profit rural hospitals,
1-19     or primary health care facilities in collaboration with an academic
1-20     health center and an associated teaching hospital or tertiary
1-21     center or with another public not-for-profit health care facility
1-22     or for-profit rural hospital; and
1-23                       (B)  includes consultive services, diagnostic
1-24     services, interactive video consultation, teleradiology,
1-25     telepathology, and distance education for working health care
1-26     professionals.
1-27           SECTION 2.  Section 57.047, Utilities Code, is amended by
1-28     adding Subsection (g) to read as follows:
1-29           (g)  In awarding a grant or loan under this section for a
1-30     telemedicine project the board shall:
1-31                 (1)  give priority to:
1-32                       (A)  a public not-for-profit health care facility
1-33     that provides care to the medically underserved or uninsured; and
1-34                       (B)  a for-profit rural hospital that
1-35     demonstrates a strong record of providing care to the medically
1-36     underserved or uninsured; and
1-37                 (2)  adopt rules prescribing the criteria a for-profit
1-38     rural hospital must meet regarding service to the medically
1-39     underserved or uninsured under Subdivision (1)(B).
1-40           SECTION 3.  Subsection (a), Section 58.253, Utilities Code,
1-41     is amended to read as follows:
1-42           (a)  On customer request, an electing company shall provide
1-43     private network services to:
1-44                 (1)  an educational institution;
1-45                 (2)  a library;
1-46                 (3)  a nonprofit telemedicine center;
1-47                 (4)  a public or not-for-profit hospital;
1-48                 (5)  a project funded by the telecommunications
1-49     infrastructure fund under Subchapter C, Chapter 57, except that an
1-50     electing company may not be required to provide private network
1-51     services to a for-profit rural hospital; [or]
1-52                 (6)  a legally constituted consortium or group of
1-53     entities listed in this subsection; or
1-54                 (7)  an ambulatory health care center, as defined by
1-55     Section 57.042.
1-56           SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.
1-57                                  * * * * *