82R25297 SJM-D

By: Coleman, Naishtat H.B. No. 2299

Substitute the following for H.B. No. 2299:

By: Gonzalez C.S.H.B. No. 2299

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the women's health program.

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

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that:

(1) taxpayer money should not be used to directly or indirectly support elective abortions or to pay for costs, including overhead costs, rent, utilities, and operational costs, of an entity that performs elective abortions;

(2) because money is fungible, taxpayer money is used to support elective abortions when the state awards grant money to an entity or the affiliate of an entity that performs or promotes elective abortions, even if the money is designated exclusively for purposes that are not related to elective abortions;

(3) an effort to separate an entity that performs elective abortions from an affiliate of the entity is insufficient to prevent taxpayer money from being used to support elective abortions because, if taxpayer money is provided to the affiliate, additional resources that would have been used by the affiliate are available for use by the entity that performs elective abortions;

(4) prohibiting the distribution of taxpayer money to entities that perform elective abortions and the affiliates of those entities is the only way to ensure that taxpayer money is not used to fund elective abortions; and

(5) no provision of 42 U.S.C. Section 300 et seq., Title XIX, Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. Section 1396 et seq.), or Title XX, Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. Section 1397 et seq.), is capable of preempting a state law that prohibits the use of taxpayer money to support the performance or promotion of elective abortions or that imposes a mandate or obligation on the state regarding the use of state money to support the performance or promotion of elective abortions because those laws only specify the conditions under which the United States secretary of health and human services may award grant money to or reimburse the expenses of a state and they do not impose a mandate or obligation on this state.

SECTION 2. Section 32.0248, Human Resources Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 32.0248. [DEMONSTRATION PROJECT FOR] WOMEN'S HEALTH PROGRAM [CARE SERVICES]. (a) In this section, "program" means the women's health program provided under this section.

(a-1) Subject to Subsection (i), the [The] department shall provide [establish] a women's health program [five-year demonstration project] through the medical assistance program to expand access to preventive health and family planning services for women. A woman eligible under Subsection (b) to participate in the program [demonstration project] may receive appropriate preventive health and family planning services, including:

(1) medical history recording and evaluation;

(2) physical examinations;

(3) health screenings, including screening for:

(A) diabetes;

(B) cervical cancer;

(C) breast cancer;

(D) sexually transmitted diseases;

(E) hypertension;

(F) cholesterol; and

(G) tuberculosis;

(4) counseling and education on contraceptive methods emphasizing the health benefits of abstinence from sexual activity to recipients who are not married, except for counseling and education regarding emergency contraception;

(5) provision of contraceptives, except for the provision of emergency contraception;

(6) risk assessment; and

(7) referral of medical problems to appropriate providers that are entities or organizations that do not perform or promote elective abortions or contract or affiliate with entities that perform or promote elective abortions.

(b) A woman is eligible to participate in the program [demonstration project] if the woman is at least 18 years of age and:

(1) has a net family income that is at or below 185 percent of the federal poverty level;

(2) participates in or receives benefits under any of the following:

(A) the medical assistance program;

(B) the financial assistance program under Chapter 31;

(C) the nutritional assistance program under Chapter 33;

(D) the Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants and Children; or

(E) another program administered by the state that:

(i) requires documentation of income; and

(ii) restricts eligibility to persons with income equal to or less than the income eligibility guidelines applicable to the medical assistance program;

(3) is presumed eligible for one of the programs listed in Subdivision (2) pending completion of that program's eligibility process; or

(4) is a member of a family that contains at least one person who participates in or receives benefits under one of the programs listed in Subdivision (2).

(c) The department shall ensure that the standards of care provided to a woman participating in the program [demonstration project] are consistent with the requirements of law and current best practices for provision of public health services.

(d) The department shall develop procedures for determining and certifying eligibility for services under the program [demonstration project] at the point of service delivery using integrated procedures that minimize duplication of effort by providers, the department, and other state agencies. The department may not use a procedure that would require a cost in excess of 10 percent of the total costs of actual preventive health and family planning services provided under the program [demonstration project]. The eligibility procedure may provide for expedited determination and certification using a simplified form requiring only family income and family size.

(e) The department shall compile a list of potential funding sources a woman participating in the program [demonstration project] may be able to use to help pay for treatment for health problems:

(1) identified using services provided under the program [demonstration project]; and

(2) for which the woman is not eligible to receive treatment under the program or otherwise under the medical assistance program [or the demonstration project].

(f) Providers of services under the program [demonstration project] shall comply with requests made by the department for information necessary for the department to:

(1) make efficient use of money spent for the operation and administration of the program [demonstration project];

(2) report and provide information required by federal law; and

(3) compile the report required by Subsection (g).

(g) Not later than December 1 of each even-numbered year, the department shall submit a report to the legislature regarding the department's operation of [progress in establishing and operating] the program [demonstration project].

(h) The department shall ensure the money spent under the program [demonstration project], regardless of the funding source, is not used to perform or promote elective abortions. The department, for the purpose of the program [demonstration project], may not contract with entities that perform or promote elective abortions or are affiliates of entities that perform or promote elective abortions.

(i) The department shall cease the operation of the program if a court holds that Subsection (h) or its application to any person or entity is invalid or enjoins its enforcement. If the department ceases the operation of the program under this subsection but a court with binding authority subsequently overrules the holding or injunction described by this subsection, the department shall reinstate the operation of the program until a court subsequently overrules the decision of the court that resulted in the reinstatement of the program.

(j) If any provision of this section or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the entire section is invalid. The provisions of this section are nonseverable to achieve this purpose.

(k) An officer or employee of the department or an executive or administrative official of the state may not refuse to comply with Subsection (h) on the basis of the officer's, employee's, or official's opinion that the provision is unconstitutional, preempted by federal law, or invalid for any other reason unless a court, in a final judgment that is not reversed on appeal, is no longer subject to appeal, and is applicable to and binding on this state, finds that Subsection (h) is unconstitutional, preempted by federal law, or invalid for any other reason.

(l) This section expires September 1, 2016 [2011].

SECTION 3. If before implementing Section 32.0248, Human Resources Code, as amended by this Act, a state agency determines that an amendment to the existing waiver or other authorization is necessary to extend the operation of the women's health program under that section as amended, the agency affected by the provision shall request the amendment to the waiver or authorization and may delay implementing that section until the amendment or other authorization is granted.

SECTION 4. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this Act takes effect August 31, 2011.