BILL ANALYSIS
By: Uresti
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
Certain parts of Texas are suffering from a critical shortage of physicians, meaning that care may in some cases be difficult to find or hard to afford for Texans in these underserved areas.
SB 1095 seeks to take steps towards solving this problem by providing for a study regarding the number of medical residency programs in this state and the number of physicians practicing medical specialties.
RULEMAKING AUTHORITY
This bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer,
institution, or agency.
ANALYSIS
SB 1095 requires the Texas Health Care Policy Council (council), in coordination with the Institute for Demographic and Socioeconomic Research at the University of Texas at San Antonio, the Regional Center for Health Workforce Studies at the Center for Health Economics and Policy of the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, and the Texas Medical Board, to conduct a study regarding increasing the number of medical residency programs and medical residents in Texas as well as the number of physicians practicing medical specialties.
SB 1095 sets forth the requirements of the study.
SB 1095 requires that not later than December 1, 2008, the council is required to report the results of the study and make available the raw data from the study to certain specified entities.
SB 1095 states that the council is authorized to accept gifts, grants, and donations of any kind from any source for the purposes of the bill.
EFFECTIVE DATE
This Act takes effect September 1, 2007. This Act expires January 1, 2009.