82R5035 PEP-D

By: Guillen H.B. No. 3281

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the containment of costs incurred in the correctional health care system.

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

SECTION 1. Subchapter E, Chapter 501, Government Code, is amended by adding Section 501.1485 to read as follows:

Sec. 501.1485. CORRECTIONS MEDICATION AIDES. (a) The department, in cooperation with The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston and the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, shall develop and implement a training program for corrections medication aides that uses a curriculum specific to administering medication in a correctional setting.

(b) In developing the curriculum for the training program, the department, The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, and the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center shall:

(1) consider the content of the curriculum developed by the American Correctional Association for certified corrections nurses; and

(2) modify as appropriate the content of the curriculum developed under Chapter 242, Health and Safety Code, for medication aides administering medication in convalescent and nursing homes and related institutions to produce content suitable for administering medication in a correctional setting.

(c) The department shall submit an application for the approval of a training program developed under this section, including the curriculum, to the Department of Aging and Disability Services in the manner established by the executive commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission under Section 161.082, Human Resources Code.

SECTION 2. Section 501.150(a), Government Code, is amended to read as follows:

(a) The committee shall establish a procedure for monitoring the quality of care delivered by the health care providers. Under the procedure, the department shall monitor the quality of care delivered by the health care providers, including investigating medical grievances, ensuring access to medical care, ensuring that the quality of medical care provided by a facility that is licensed and a facility that is exempt from licensing is substantially similar, and conducting periodic operational reviews of medical care provided at its units.

SECTION 3. Section 508.146, Government Code, is amended by adding Subsection (a-1) to read as follows:

(a-1) For purposes of Subsection (a):

(1) "Elderly" means 60 years of age or older.

(2) "Terminally ill" includes having an incurable illness, disease, disorder, or other condition that has been diagnosed by a physician and is reasonably expected to result in death in 12 months or less.

SECTION 4. Section 251.012, Health and Safety Code, as amended by Chapters 839 (S.B. 1932) and 1280 (H.B. 1831), Acts of the 81st Legislature, Regular Session, 2009, is reenacted and amended to read as follows:

Sec. 251.012. EXEMPTIONS FROM LICENSING REQUIREMENT. The following facilities are not required to be licensed under this chapter:

(1) a home and community support services agency licensed under Chapter 142 with a home dialysis designation;

(2) a hospital licensed under Chapter 241 that provides dialysis only to individuals receiving:

(A) [individuals receiving] inpatient services from the hospital; or

(B) [individuals receiving] outpatient services due to a disaster declared by the governor or a federal disaster declared by the president of the United States occurring in this state or another state during the term of the disaster declaration; [or]

(3) a hospital operated by or on behalf of the state as part of the managed health care provider network established under Chapter 501, Government Code, that provides dialysis only to individuals receiving:

(A) inpatient services from the hospital; or

(B) outpatient services while serving a term of confinement in a facility operated by or under contract with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice; or

(4) the office of a physician unless the office is used primarily as an end stage renal disease facility.

SECTION 5. Subchapter D, Chapter 161, Human Resources Code, is amended by adding Section 161.082 to read as follows:

Sec. 161.082. CORRECTIONS MEDICATION AIDES. (a) The executive commissioner shall establish:

(1) minimum standards and procedures for the approval of corrections medication aide training programs, including curricula, developed under Section 501.1485, Government Code;

(2) minimum requirements for the issuance, denial, renewal, suspension, and revocation of a permit to a corrections medication aide, including the payment of an application or renewal fee in an amount necessary to cover the costs incurred by the department in administering this section; and

(3) the acts and practices that are within and outside the scope of a permit issued under this section.

(b) Not later than the 90th day after receipt of an application for approval of a corrections medication aide training program developed under Section 501.1485, Government Code, the department shall:

(1) approve the program, if the program meets the minimum standards and procedures established under Subsection (a)(1); or

(2) provide notice to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice that the program is not approved and include in the notice a description of the actions that are required for the program to be approved.

(c) The department shall issue a permit to or renew the permit of an applicant who meets the minimum requirements established under Subsection (a)(2). The department shall coordinate with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice in the performance of the department's duties and functions under this subsection.

SECTION 6. (a) The Texas Department of Criminal Justice, in cooperation with The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, or a successor correctional managed health care provider, shall develop the training program required by Section 501.1485, Government Code, as added by this Act, and the department shall submit an application for approval of that program, as required by Subsection (c) of that section, not later than January 1, 2012. If after the effective date of this Act and before the date the department develops the training program described by this subsection, The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston and the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center are no longer represented on the Correctional Managed Health Care Committee, or no longer serve as correctional managed health care providers, the executive director of the department shall request and receive the cooperation of any other state agency determined by the executive director to be an appropriate resource in the development of the program.

(b) The change in law made by this Act in amending Section 508.146, Government Code, applies to the release of an inmate under that section on or after the effective date of this Act, regardless of when the offense for which the inmate is serving a sentence was committed.

(c) The change in law made by this Act in amending Section 251.012, Health and Safety Code, applies only to dialysis services provided on or after the effective date of this Act. Dialysis services provided before the effective date of this Act are covered by the law in effect immediately before that date, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.

(d) The executive commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission shall establish the minimum standards and requirements and the acts and practices allowed or prohibited, as required by Section 161.082, Human Resources Code, as added by this Act, not later than January 1, 2012.

SECTION 7. To the extent of any conflict, this Act prevails over another Act of the 82nd Legislature, Regular Session, 2011, relating to nonsubstantive additions to and corrections in enacted codes.

SECTION 8. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.