HBA-CCH H.B. 2650 77(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 2650 By: Capelo Public Health 3/30/2001 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Hepatitis C is a chronic liver disease caused by the hepatitis C virus (HCV). According to the Center for Disease Control, an estimated 8,000 to 10,000 Americans die each year from hepatitis C and approximately four million others have been infected with HCV. Most HCV infected persons are between 30 and 49 years of age and are expected to develop chronic liver disease as they age. Consequently, the number of deaths attributable to HCV could increase substantially during the next two decades. It is imperative that health care professionals such as licensed nurses are knowledgeable about the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of hepatitis C. Currently, the Board of Nurse Examiners (board) may require licensed nurses to complete as much as twenty hours of continuing education every two years to maintain their license. House Bill 2650 requires the board to develop hepatitis C continuing education training and requires licensed nurses to complete at least two hours of continuing education instruction related to hepatitis C as part of the twenty hours. 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. ANALYSIS House Bill 2650 amends the Occupations Code to require a licensed nurse to participate in at least two hours of continuing education related to hepatitis C in a two-year licensing period. The bill requires the Board of Nurse Examiners to recognize, prepare, or administer a hepatitis C training component for use in continuing education for licensed nurses. The bill provides that the training component must provide information relating to the prevention, assessment, and treatment of hepatitis C. EFFECTIVE DATE On passage, or if the Act does not receive the necessary vote, the Act takes effect September 1, 2001.