BILL ANALYSIS |
C.S.H.B. 3519 |
By: Guerra |
Public Health |
Committee Report (Substituted) |
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
The use of telemonitoring services has been reported to be a cost-effective way to treat chronically ill patients by allowing health care professionals to receive the latest patient data without forcing these patients to travel to a health care facility. These services can also help increase access to health care in medically underserved areas in Texas. C.S.H.B. 3519 seeks to expand the use of home telemonitoring services under the Medicaid program. |
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CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT
It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.
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RULEMAKING AUTHORITY
It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.
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ANALYSIS
C.S.H.B. 3519 amends the Government Code, as amended by S.B. 219, Acts of the 84th Legislature, Regular Session, 2015, to include among the persons who are eligible for home telemonitoring services under the Medicaid program a person who is diagnosed with a condition for which the Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) makes an evidence-based determination that monitoring through the use of home telemonitoring services is cost-effective and feasible and who exhibits two or more specified risk factors. The bill requires a program permitting Medicaid reimbursement for home telemonitoring services to provide reimbursement for those services in the event of an unsuccessful data transmission if the provider of the services attempts to communicate with the patient by telephone or in person to establish a successful data transmission. The bill requires such a program to provide that home telemonitoring services are available to a pediatric patient with chronic or complex medical needs who is being concurrently treated by at least three medical specialists, is medically dependent on technology, is diagnosed with end-stage solid organ disease, or requires mechanical ventilation.
C.S.H.B. 3519 postpones from September 1, 2015, to September 1, 2021, the date on which HHSC is no longer authorized to reimburse providers under Medicaid for the provision of home telemonitoring services. The bill requires the executive commissioner of HHSC, as soon as practicable after the bill's effective date, to adopt necessary rules to implement the changes in law made by the bill's provisions.
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EFFECTIVE DATE
September 1, 2015.
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COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND SUBSTITUTE
While C.S.H.B. 3519 may differ from the original in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following comparison is organized and formatted in a manner that indicates the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill and does not indicate differences relating to changes made by S.B. 219, Acts of the 84th Legislature, Regular Session, 2015, which became effective April 2, 2015.
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