BILL ANALYSIS

 

 

Senate Research Center                                                                                                        S.B. 793

81R3479 JD-F                                                                                                                    By: Hegar

                                                                                                 Transportation & Homeland Security

                                                                                                                                              4/6/2009

                                                                                                                                              As Filed

 

 

AUTHOR'S / SPONSOR'S STATEMENT OF INTENT

 

Rural health clinics are usually staffed solely by advanced nurse practitioners and physician assistants.  Licensed physicians are required to be present at the clinics once every 10 days and to review at least 10 percent of the medical charts, but nurse practitioners oversee the operations and duties of the clinic for the remainder of the time.  Licensed physicians have authority to provide disabled parking permits to qualified disabled persons under current law.  The nurse practitioners and physician assistants, however, do not have this authority.  Since physicians are only on-site a small percentage of the time, these health care personnel need the authority to issue such parking permits in the absence of a physician.

 

As proposed, S.B. 793 authorizes advanced practice nurses and physician assistants acting under the delegation and supervision of a licensed physician to provide the required notarized written statement for a disabled parking placard.

 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

 

This bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, institution, or agency.

 

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

 

SECTION 1.  Amends Section 681.003(c), Transportation Code, to require that, subject to Subsection (e) (relating to the statement or prescription being authorized to be issued by a person licensed to practice podiatry for a person with a foot impairment), the first application must be accompanied by a notarized written statement or written prescription of certain persons licensed to practice medicine or a person acting under the delegation and supervision of a licensed physician in conformance with Subchapter B (Delegation to Advancement Practice Nurses and Physician Assistants), Chapter 157 (Authority of Physician to Delegate Certain Medical Acts), Occupations Code, certifying and providing evidence acceptable to the Texas Department of Transportation that the person making the application or on whose behalf the application is made is legally blind or has a mobility problem that substantially impairs the person's ability to ambulate.

 

SECTION 2.  Effective date: upon passage or September 1, 2009.