S.B. 1024 78(R)    BILL ANALYSIS

S.B. 1024
By: Madla
Public Health
Committee Report (Unamended)


BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 
The Texas Department of Health (TDH) has authority to operate hospitals
for tuberculosis (TB) care, including involuntary TB treatment.  Patient
care and treatment at TDH hospitals is limited to Texas residents. Current
law, does not allow for development of interstate agreements with other
states where the infected individual resides so that state may bear TB
treatment costs. However, jurisdictional borders do not inhibit spread of
communicable diseases such as TB, and under certain circumstances, it may
be good public health practice for the State of Texas to offer  TB
treatment to residents of neighboring states because TB is highly
contagious and easily transmitted to others. In addition, it is not always
possible to return nonresidents to their state of residence for TB
treatment. Legislative authority is needed to authorize development of
interstate agreements for TB treatment of nonresidents at the Texas Center
for Infectious Disease and to render TB care, including involuntary TB
care to residents of other states, as facility bed space allows, with
priority for care of Texas residents. Legislative authority also is needed
for the State of Texas to recognize and enforce an order entered by a
non-Texas court for the involuntary civil commitment for communicable
disease treatment. The bill would provide the needed authority to admit
certain nonresident patients to state chest hospitals.   


RULEMAKING AUTHORITY
It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any
additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or
institution. 

ANALYSIS
The bill amends the Health and Safety Code to authorizes a person who is
not a resident of this state and who has tuberculosis to be admitted to a
state chest hospital. The bill authorizes a certificate  for application
to a state chest hospital for a non-state resident to be issued by a
physician who holds a license to practice medicine in the state of the
residence of the applicant. The bill expands the list of persons who may
be admitted to as state chest hospital to include a nonresident,
specifying that a nonresident public patient is a person who is admitted
in accordance with an interstate agreement. 

The bill authorizes the Texas Department of Health to enter into an
agreement with an agency of another state responsible for the care of
residents of that state who have tuberculosis, specifying the conditions
under which residents of the other state  may be admitted and that the
other state is responsible for payment of all costs.  Return of
nonresident patients is now governed by the agreements entered into under
this section. 

The bill provides that the attorney general, in the case of a person who
is not a resident of Texas, who may be admitted to a state chest hospital
and at the request of the department, must file a copy of an  order issued
by a court of another state that authorizes the commitment of the person
to a health care facility for inpatient care in the manner provided by
Chapter 35, Civil Practice and Remedies Code, for the enforcement of
foreign judgements. The bill provides requirements for the filing of an
application in the district court in the county in which the state chest
hospital to which the person will be admitted is located, enforcement of a
filed foreign court order, and subjects a foreign court order to the
contractual agreement with the foreign state.  

EFFECTIVE DATE
September 1, 2003