80R4923 JLL-F

By: Goolsby H.B. No. 1725

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to organ donation.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Subtitle B, Title 8, Health and Safety Code, is amended by adding Chapter 695 to read as follows: CHAPTER 695. ORGAN DONATION INCENTIVE ACT

Sec. 695.001. SHORT TITLE. This chapter may be cited as the Organ Donation Incentive Act.

Sec. 695.002. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:

(1) "Death benefit" means a monetary payment made under this chapter to a beneficiary designated by a registered donor.

(2) "Department" means the Department of State Health Services.

(3) "Organ" means the human heart, kidney, liver, pancreas, bowel, or cornea.

(4) "Organ procurement" includes acquiring, harvesting, preserving, storing, transporting, distributing, and tissue typing organs.

(5) "Organ procurement organization" means a qualified organ procurement organization as defined by 42 U.S.C. Section 273.

(6) "Organ transplant services" includes organ procurement, inpatient hospital services, physician services, and laboratory services related to an organ transplant procedure.

(7) "Program" means the organ donation incentive program.

(8) "Registered donor" means a resident of this state who has registered with the department under Section 695.006, and who has not revoked the person's registration or anatomical gift.

Sec. 695.003. ADMINISTRATION OF PROGRAM. (a) The department shall administer the organ donation incentive program.

(b) The executive commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission shall adopt rules necessary to establish a procedure for:

(1) a donor to register with the department as an organ donor and designate a beneficiary to receive any death benefit payable by reason of the donor's death; and

(2) a beneficiary of a deceased donor to make a claim for a death benefit payment.

(c) The department may employ staff to administer the program.

Sec. 695.004. ORGAN DONATION INCENTIVE FUND. (a) The organ donation incentive fund is an account in the general revenue fund and is composed of money collected under Section 695.005 and contributions to the fund from any other source.

(b) Money in the fund may be used only for purposes authorized by this chapter, including collection of the tax under Section 695.005.

(c) The department may use the money deposited in the fund to pay death benefits under the program and the administrative costs of administering the program.

Sec. 695.005. TAX ON ORGAN TRANSPLANT SERVICES. (a) A tax is imposed on each provider of organ transplant services in this state equal to five percent of the provider's gross revenues received for performance of organ transplant services. The proceeds of the tax collected under this section shall be deposited to the credit of the organ donation incentive fund.

(b) A provider required to pay the tax collected under this section shall pay the comptroller the tax based on the total amount of gross revenues collected during the preceding calendar year not later than May 1 of the following calendar year. At the time payment is made, the provider shall file with the comptroller a report stating:

(1) the total amount of gross revenues collected during the reporting period; and

(2) any other information that the comptroller may require.

(c) The comptroller may adopt the rules necessary to administer this section.

Sec. 695.006. REGISTRATION AS ORGAN DONOR. (a) A resident of this state who makes an anatomical gift for transplantation purposes under Chapter 692 may register as a registered donor with the department by filing a copy of the gift document and any other information or documentation the department may require. The registration documentation must include:

(1) the donor's designation of a beneficiary to receive any death benefit payments; and

(2) the signature of the person or persons who would have priority to make a gift of the donor's organs under Section 692.004 if the donor died at the time of registration.

(b) Registration with the department is not necessary for an anatomical gift made under Chapter 692 to be valid.

(c) A registered donor may revoke an anatomical gift in accordance with Chapter 692 and notify the department that the donor wishes to withdraw from the donor registry. Failure to withdraw from the donor registry does not affect the validity of the revocation.

Sec. 695.007. DEATH BENEFITS. (a) Death benefits are:

(1) paid through the department in accordance with this chapter and rules adopted by the executive commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission; and

(2) due and payable only to the extent provided by this chapter.

(b) The department shall determine the amount of the death benefit payable under this chapter each fiscal year in accordance with this section. The amount for any given year must be the same amount for each registered donor who dies during the year and qualifies for a death benefit payment.

(c) The department shall employ an actuary, as an employee or consultant, to make a recommendation not later than August 1 of each year on the amount of death benefit to be paid during the following state fiscal year, based on an actuarial analysis of relevant factors, including:

(1) the number and ages of registered donors;

(2) the expected number of new registered donors during the following state fiscal year;

(3) any reserve funds;

(4) the expected administration costs of the program; and

(5) the expected contributions to the fund during the following state fiscal year.

(d) Based on the actuary's recommendation, the department shall set the amount of the death benefit payment for a state fiscal year not later than August 31 of the preceding calendar year.

(e) An actuary employed under this section must be a fellow of the Society of Actuaries, a member of the American Academy of Actuaries, or an enrolled actuary under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. Section 1001 et seq.).

Sec. 695.008. QUALIFICATION FOR DEATH BENEFIT PAYMENT. (a) If a registered donor dies and any of the donor's organs are offered for transplantation by an organ procurement organization through the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network established under 42 U.S.C. Section 274 without regard to whether any offered organs are actually accepted for transplantation, the registered donor's named beneficiary is entitled to a death benefit payment.

(b) Before the department approves a claim, the department shall obtain a written certification from the organ procurement organization that offered the donor's organs for transplantation through the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network to verify the organization made the offer.

(c) Death benefits are due and payable only to the extent money is available for that purpose in the organ donation incentive fund. This state and the department are not liable for any death benefit in excess of the amount in the fund. If a claim is approved in an amount that exceeds the amount actually in the fund at that time, the department shall postpone payment of the claim until sufficient money to pay the benefit is in the fund.

SECTION 2. Section 48.02(c), Penal Code, is amended to read as follows:

(c) It is an exception to the application of this section that the valuable consideration is: (1) a fee paid to a physician or to other medical personnel for services rendered in the usual course of medical practice or a fee paid for hospital or other clinical services; (2) reimbursement of legal or medical expenses incurred for the benefit of the ultimate receiver of the organ; [or] (3) reimbursement of expenses of travel, housing, and lost wages incurred by the donor of a human organ in connection with the donation of the organ; or (4) payment of a death benefit under Chapter 695, Health and Safety Code.

SECTION 3. (a) The executive commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission shall adopt the rules and the Department of State Health Services shall establish the procedures necessary to implement Chapter 695, Health and Safety Code, as added by this Act, not later than June 1, 2008.

(b) Notwithstanding Chapter 695, Health and Safety Code, a person may not register as a registered donor with the Department of State Health Services under that chapter before September 1, 2008.

(c) Section 695.005, Health and Safety Code, as added by this Act, applies only to organ transplant services provided on or after January 1, 2008.

SECTION 4. The change in law made by this Act to Section 48.02, Penal Code, applies only to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act. An offense committed before the effective date of this Act is covered by the law in effect when the offense was committed, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For purposes of this section, an offense was committed before the effective date of this Act if any element of the offense was committed before that date.

SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2007.