LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD
Austin, Texas
 
FISCAL NOTE, 83RD LEGISLATIVE REGULAR SESSION
 
March 19, 2013

TO:
Honorable Lois W. Kolkhorst, Chair, House Committee On Public Health
 
FROM:
Ursula Parks, Director, Legislative Budget Board
 
IN RE:
HB286 by Zedler (Relating to the investigation and resolution of complaints filed against physicians.), As Introduced



Estimated Two-year Net Impact to General Revenue Related Funds for HB286, As Introduced: an impact of $0 through the biennium ending August 31, 2015.

The bill would make no appropriation but could provide the legal basis for an appropriation of funds to implement the provisions of the bill.



Fiscal Year Probable Net Positive/(Negative) Impact to General Revenue Related Funds
2014 $0
2015 $0
2016 $0
2017 $0
2018 $0




Fiscal Year Probable (Cost) from
General Revenue Fund
1 		Probable Revenue Gain from
General Revenue Fund
1
2014 ($2,458,900) $2,458,900
2015 ($2,458,900) $2,458,900
2016 ($2,458,900) $2,458,900
2017 ($2,458,900) $2,458,900
2018 ($2,458,900) $2,458,900

Fiscal Analysis

The bill would amend the Occupations Code relating to the investigation and resolution of complaints filed against physicians.  The bill requires the board, when providing notice to a physician of a confidential informal disciplinary proceeding, to include the identity and credentials of any expert physician the board intends to rely on at the proceeding, along with the specific allegations made in the complaint against the physician and the specific statute, rule, or standard of care alleged to be violated.

The bill would take effect September 1, 2013.


Methodology

To implement the provisions of the bill, the Texas Medical Board (TMB) assumes it would have to establish a pool of professional experts who would be physicians willing to perform the reviews and have their identities released to the licensees under investigation.  The agency would have to increase its current reimbursement rate of $100 per hour up to $250 per hour to the going rate for professional experts.  According to information provided by TMB, the agency currently uses professional experts only for certain cases that go to trial at SOAH. These professional experts are paid at varying rates, but the lowest hourly rate currently paid is $250 an hour, which is 2.5 times what the current expert physicians are paid.  Under this bill, the total would be $4,918,000 for fiscal years 2014-18, which is an increase of $2,458,900 each fiscal year. 

According to the analysis by TMB, implementation of this bill could impact the agency's ability to generate the necessary fee revenue due to the statutory caps on biennial license registration.  However, it is assumed that the Board would adjust license fees as necessary to cover any additional costs associated with the implementation of the bill.


Local Government Impact

No fiscal implication to units of local government is anticipated.


Source Agencies:
360 State Office of Administrative Hearings, 503 Texas Medical Board
LBB Staff:
UP, CL, MW, NV