HBA-GUM S.B. 983 76(R)BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisS.B. 983
By: Madla
Public Health
5/13/1999
Committee Report (Amended)



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

Currently, the Texas Department of Health requires a branch office of a
home health agency to be located within 70 miles of a main office.  There
are a number of areas of Texas that cannot be served by such a branch
office due to that requirement.  Ten years ago, the Health Care Financing
Administration first instructed its surveyors that driving time and
distance should not be used as a criteria in evaluating a branch office.
S.B. 983 requires the commissioner of health and human services to contact
the federal Health Care Financing Administration to request the adoption of
certain rules regarding modern methods of communication and driving
distance requirements. 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does
not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state
officer, department, agency, or institution. 

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

 SECTION 1.  Requires the commissioner of health and human services, after
consulting with certain health professionals and consumers, to contact the
federal Health Care Financing Administration to request the adoption of
rules to allow a home and community support services agency to use modern
methods of communication in the supervision of the agency's branch offices,
and eliminate driving distance requirements or allow the state to set its
own driving distance requirements for such a branch office.  

SECTION 2.  Effective date: September 1, 1999.

SECTION 3.  Emergency clause.

EXPLANATION OF AMENDMENTS

Amendment No. 1 deletes proposed text requiring the commissioner of health
and human services, after consulting with certain health professionals and
consumers, to contact the federal Health Care Financing Administration to
request the adoption of rules to allow the state to set its own driving
distance requirements for a branch office of a home and community support
services agency.