BILL ANALYSIS

H.B. 3682

By: Arévalo

Public Health

Committee Report (Unamended)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Interested parties note that health literacy, the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions, can create a significant barrier to accessing the health care system for many individuals. H.B. 3682 seeks to address this issue by requiring the statewide health coordinating council and state health plan to examine and report on the impact of low health literacy on consumers and the health care system.

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.

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.

ANALYSIS

H.B. 3682 amends the Health and Safety Code to require the statewide health coordinating council to form an advisory committee on health literacy, defined by the bill as the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions. The bill provides for the composition of the advisory committee, requires the advisory committee to develop a long-range plan for increasing health literacy in Texas, and specifies components the plan must include. The bill requires the advisory committee to elect a presiding officer and establishes that members of the advisory committee serve without compensation but are entitled to reimbursement for the members' travel expenses as provided by the Travel Regulations Act and the General Appropriations Act. The bill exempts the size, composition, and duration of the advisory committee from statutory provisions governing state agency advisory committees and subjects meetings of the advisory committee to state open meetings law.

H.B. 3682 includes among the major statewide health concerns that the state health plan must identify the prevalence of low health literacy for health care consumers and requires the state health plan to propose strategies for increasing health literacy in pursuit of greater
cost-effectiveness and better patient outcomes in health care.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2017.