BILL ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 4015

By: Guillen

Public Health

Committee Report (Substituted)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Concerns have been raised about the lack of a centralized resource center to provide information on chronic kidney disease. C.S.H.B. 4015 seeks to address these concerns by establishing the Rita Littlefield Chronic Kidney Disease Centralized Resource Center within the Health and Human Services Commission to provide awareness, education, and resources regarding chronic kidney disease and related illnesses for both the general public and health care professionals.

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

C.S.H.B. 4015 amends the Health and Safety Code to establish the Rita Littlefield Chronic Kidney Disease Centralized Resource Center within the Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) to serve as a centralized system through which persons may do the following:

· request and obtain information on chronic kidney disease and related illnesses, including each level of kidney disease and end stage renal disease; and

· register for inclusion in a kidney health clinical trials registry to receive information on clinical trials and clinical trial opportunities for chronic kidney disease and related illnesses.

C.S.H.B. 4015 requires HHSC to do the following:

· administer the resource center;

· structure and operate the resource center in a manner that provides a comprehensive approach for readily accessing information on and resources for chronic kidney disease and related illnesses, including each level of kidney disease and end stage renal disease;

· establish a kidney health clinical trials registry to be maintained by the resource center through which patients and family members of those patients may register to receive educational information on clinical trials and clinical trial opportunities based on the level of a patient's chronic kidney disease or end stage renal disease; and

· ensure information provided by the resource center is available in both English and Spanish.

The comprehensive approach must allow individuals to request and obtain or to directly access certain aggregated information on patient and family resources, resources on chronic kidney disease treatment options and modalities, and chronic kidney disease awareness, prevention, and professional education opportunities.

C.S.H.B. 4015 requires HHSC to establish and the resource center to maintain, in collaboration with the chronic kidney disease task force, a website through which resource center employees and members of the public may directly communicate and exchange information on chronic kidney disease and related illnesses and individuals may register in the clinical trials registry.

C.S.H.B. 4015 authorizes HHSC to solicit and accept gifts, grants, and donations from any source to implement the bill's provisions. Implementation of a provision of this bill by HHSC is mandatory only if a specific appropriation is made for that purpose.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2023.

COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND SUBSTITUTE

While C.S.H.B. 4015 may differ from the original in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following summarizes the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.

The substitute establishes the resource center within HHSC, whereas the original established it within the Department of State Health Services. Accordingly, the powers and duties that were assigned to DSHS in the original are assigned to HHSC in the substitute.

The original included provisions relating to registration in a kidney health clinical registry and trial network. The substitute does not include those provisions but instead includes a requirement for HHSC to establish, and the resource center to maintain, a kidney health clinical trials registry and provides for a person's ability to register for inclusion in the registry through the resource center and the associated website.

The substitute includes a provision absent from the original making the implementation of a provision of the bill by HHSC mandatory only if a specific appropriation is made for that purpose.

The substitute changes the bill's effective date from September 1, 2021, as in the original, to September 1, 2023.