BILL ANALYSIS
Senate Research Center C.S.S.B. 983
79R12066 JTS-D By: Van de Putte
Committee Report (Substituted)
AUTHOR'S/SPONSOR'S STATEMENT OF INTENT
Currently, hospice services are not available under the state Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Acute inpatient stays are significantly extended due to limited resources. Also, emergency rooms are utilized for health problems that could be handled by a visiting nurse allowing the child and family to remain at home. Children who have coverage under CHIP and are in the final stages of terminal illness currently have no other option but to be hospitalized during the final days or weeks of their life consuming significantly higher cost health care than home-based hospice care.
C.S.S.B. 983 reinstates hospice benefits as part of the health care options under CHIP. Hospice benefits would be available to children enrolled in CHIP who live with complex chronic medical conditions, life-threatening conditions, and terminal illnesses. The cost to the state would be lessened by providing services in a community-based setting rather than in an intensive care unit.
RULEMAKING AUTHORITY
SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS
SECTION 1. Amends Section 62.151, Health and Safety Code, by adding Subsection (g), to require a child health plan to provide hospice services as a covered benefit.
SECTION 2. Authorizes delay of implementation of any provision of the Act until any necessary federal waivers or authorizations are obtained.
SECTION 3. Effective date: September 1, 2005.