Bill Text: TX HB2405 | 2011-2012 | 82nd Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to discrimination and restraint of trade against certain persons regulated under the Occupations Code.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-03-10 - Referred to Insurance [HB2405 Detail]
Download: Texas-2011-HB2405-Introduced.html
82R9383 T | ||
By: Chisum | H.B. No. 2405 |
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relating to discrimination and restraint of trade against certain | ||
persons regulated under the Occupations Code. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Section 15.05, Business and Commerce Code, is | ||
amended by adding Subsections (e-1), (e-2), (e-3), (e-4), and (f-1) | ||
and amending Subsections (g) and (i) to read as follows: | ||
(e-1) Notwithstanding Titles 4 and 7, Business | ||
Organizations Code, it is unlawful to prohibit any person licensed | ||
under Subtitle C, Title 3, Occupations Code, from forming a | ||
partnership, professional association, or professional limited | ||
liability company with persons licensed under Subtitle B, Title 3, | ||
Occupations Code. | ||
(e-2) With regard to a person licensed under a chapter of | ||
Title 3, Occupations Code, who is authorized under state law, | ||
rules, or regulations to provide services covered under an | ||
insurance policy, it is unlawful for an insurer to: | ||
(1) deny payment or reimbursement for the services | ||
solely because the services are provided by a person licensed under | ||
a particular chapter of Title 3, Occupations Code, if: | ||
(A) the services are performed in strict | ||
compliance with state laws, rules, and regulations relating to that | ||
person's license; and | ||
(B) the insurer allows payment or reimbursement | ||
for the same services provided by a person licensed under a | ||
different chapter of Title 3, Occupations Code; | ||
(2) make payment or reimbursement for particular | ||
services that the person is authorized to provide under state law, | ||
rules, or regulations contingent on provision of those services by | ||
a person licensed under a different chapter of Title 3, Occupations | ||
Code; or | ||
(3) establish a cap on annual expenditures for or | ||
number of visits to a person licensed to provide covered services | ||
under a particular chapter of Title 3, Occupations Code, that would | ||
prohibit the insured from seeking the provision of covered services | ||
from a person licensed to provide covered services under that | ||
chapter of Title 3, Occupations Code, to the same extent that the | ||
insured may seek the provision of covered services by a person | ||
licensed to provide those services under a different chapter of | ||
Title 3, Occupations Code. | ||
(e-3) It is unlawful for a licensing or regulatory entity | ||
created under Title 3, Occupations Code, to file, join, serve as an | ||
amicus curiae, or otherwise participate in a lawsuit against | ||
another licensing or regulatory entity created under Title 3, | ||
Occupations Code, for any purpose, including the purpose of | ||
preventing persons licensed under a particular chapter of Title 3, | ||
Occupations Code, from providing services that those persons have | ||
been legally trained and licensed by the state to perform. | ||
(e-4) Notwithstanding any other law, it is unlawful to | ||
prevent by any means a person licensed under a particular chapter of | ||
Title 3, Occupations Code, from: | ||
(1) collaborating with a person licensed under a | ||
different chapter of Title 3, Occupations Code, in providing | ||
services to a client if each person performs only those services | ||
that the person is authorized under state law, rules, or | ||
regulations to perform; or | ||
(2) using objective or subjective means to diagnose, | ||
analyze, examine, or evaluate the condition of the person's client | ||
for the purpose of: | ||
(A) providing services to the client that the | ||
person is authorized under state laws, rules, or regulations to | ||
provide; or | ||
(B) referring the client to an appropriate person | ||
licensed under another chapter of Title 3, Occupations Code, for | ||
the provision of services needed by the client. | ||
(f-1) Notwithstanding any other law, it is not unlawful for | ||
a person licensed under another chapter of Title 3, Occupations | ||
Code, to use the same billing codes used by a person licensed under | ||
Chapter 453, Occupations Code, if the billing codes describe | ||
services that the person is authorized under state law, rules, or | ||
regulations to provide. | ||
(g) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit | ||
activities that are exempt from the operation of the federal | ||
antitrust laws, 15 U.S.C. Section 1 et seq., except that an | ||
exemption otherwise available under the McCarran-Ferguson Act (15 | ||
U.S.C. Sections 1011-1015) does not serve to exempt activities | ||
under this Act. Except as provided by Subsections (e-3) and (e-4), | ||
nothing [ |
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or affirmatively approved by any statute of this state or of the | ||
United States or by a regulatory agency of this state or of the | ||
United States duly acting under any constitutional or statutory | ||
authority vesting the agency with such power. | ||
(i) In determining whether a restraint related to the sale | ||
or delivery of professional services is reasonable, except in cases | ||
involving price fixing, or other per se violations, the court may | ||
consider, but shall not reach its decision solely on the basis of, | ||
criteria which include: (1) whether the activities involved | ||
maintain or improve the quality of such services to benefit the | ||
public interest; (2) whether the activities involved limit or | ||
reduce the cost of such services to benefit the public interest. | ||
For purposes of this subsection, the term "professional services" | ||
means services performed by any licensed accountant, physician or | ||
other person licensed under Title 3, Occupations Code, or | ||
professional engineer in connection with his or her professional | ||
employment or practice. | ||
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011. |