LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD
                              Austin, Texas
                                     
                    FISCAL NOTE, 77th Regular Session
  
                              April 16, 2001
  
  
          TO:  Honorable Frank Madla, Chair, Senate Committee on
               Intergovernmental Relations
  
        FROM:  John Keel, Director, Legislative Budget Board
  
       IN RE:  SB1108  by Bernsen (Relating to certain employee benefits
               for tuberculosis contracted by a public safety
               employee.), As Introduced
  
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*  No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.        *
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The bill would make the assumption that a public safety employee who
contracts tuberculosis (TB) did so in the course and scope of their
employment. The provisions of the bill would require the employing
political subdivision to pay the employee salary and benefits until the
employee's death and to reimburse the employee for all medical expenses
incurred as a result of contracting TB.
  
Local Government Impact
  
According to information provided by the Texas Department of Health
(TDH), TB is a treatable and curable bacterial infection. After
diagnosis, most patients are treated for a total of six months, although
more drug resistant cases may require up to 24 months of treatment.
Statistically, most cases are uncomplicated and are treated successfully
in six months. TDH indicated that the cost of diagnosis, treatment, and
management of an uncomplicated case totals approximately $5,000.  That
cost includes clinic visits, medications, diagnostic tests, cultures, and
directly observed therapy.  TDH stated that TB patients who obtain
treatment do not die from the disease.

TDH said there were 1,506 cases of TB reported in Texas in calendar year
2000 and 58 percent of those cases were contracted by persons who were
unemployed. The statistics did not indicate if any of the persons with
TB in 2000 were public safety employees. If one public safety employee
per year were to contract TB, under the provisions of the bill, the
public employer would incur a cost of a minimum of $5,000 for medical
treatment plus salary and benefits for the remainder of the person's
life, which could be significant since TB is not anticipated to shorten
the individual's lifespan.
  
  
Source Agencies:   405   Texas Department of Public Safety, 501   Texas
                   Department of Health
LBB Staff:         JK, DB, DG