Bill Text: TX HB2849 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating to information about available free or low-cost cellular telephones and free or low-cost cellular telephone service plans provided to residents of certain nursing and assisted living facilities.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2023-03-14 - Referred to Human Services [HB2849 Detail]

Download: Texas-2023-HB2849-Introduced.html

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88R10812 MPF-D
By: Plesa H.B. No. 2849

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to information about available free or low-cost cellular
telephones and free or low-cost cellular telephone service plans
provided to residents of certain nursing and assisted living
facilities.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 242.501(a), Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) The executive commissioner by rule shall adopt a
statement of the rights of a resident. The statement must be
consistent with Chapter 102, Human Resources Code, but shall
reflect the unique circumstances of a resident at an
institution. At a minimum, the statement of the rights of a
resident must address the resident's constitutional, civil, and
legal rights and the resident's right:
(1) to be free from abuse and exploitation;
(2) to safe, decent, and clean conditions;
(3) to be treated with courtesy, consideration, and
respect;
(4) to not be subjected to discrimination based on
age, race, religion, sex, nationality, or disability and to
practice the resident's own religious beliefs;
(5) to place in the resident's room an electronic
monitoring device that is owned and operated by the resident or
provided by the resident's guardian or legal representative;
(6) to privacy, including privacy during visits and
telephone calls;
(7) to complain about the institution and to organize
or participate in any program that presents residents' concerns to
the administrator of the institution;
(8) to have information about the resident in the
possession of the institution maintained as confidential;
(9) to retain the services of a physician the resident
chooses, at the resident's own expense or through a health care
plan, and to have a physician explain to the resident, in language
that the resident understands, the resident's complete medical
condition, the recommended treatment, and the expected results of
the treatment, including reasonably expected effects, side
effects, and risks associated with psychoactive medications;
(10) to participate in developing a plan of care, to
refuse treatment, and to refuse to participate in experimental
research;
(11) to a written statement or admission agreement
describing the services provided by the institution and the related
charges;
(12) to manage the resident's own finances or to
delegate that responsibility to another person;
(13) to access money and property that the resident
has deposited with the institution and to an accounting of the
resident's money and property that are deposited with the
institution and of all financial transactions made with or on
behalf of the resident;
(14) to keep and use personal property, secure from
theft or loss;
(15) to not be relocated within the institution,
except in accordance with standards adopted under Section 242.403;
(16) to receive visitors;
(17) to receive unopened mail and to receive
assistance in reading or writing correspondence;
(18) to participate in activities inside and outside
the institution;
(19) to wear the resident's own clothes;
(20) to discharge himself or herself from the
institution unless the resident is an adjudicated mental
incompetent;
(21) to not be discharged from the institution except
as provided in the standards adopted under Section 242.403;
(22) to be free from any physical or chemical
restraints imposed for the purposes of discipline or convenience,
and not required to treat the resident's medical symptoms; [and]
(23) to receive information about prescribed
psychoactive medication from the person prescribing the medication
or that person's designee, to have any psychoactive medications
prescribed and administered in a responsible manner, as mandated by
Section 242.505, and to refuse to consent to the prescription of
psychoactive medications; and
(24) to receive information, at the time of admission
and annually following admission, about available programs
providing free or low-cost cellular telephones and free or low-cost
cellular telephone service plans to qualifying residents.
SECTION 2. Section 247.064(b), Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(b) The residents' bill of rights must provide that each
resident in the assisted living facility has the right to:
(1) manage the resident's financial affairs;
(2) determine the resident's dress, hair style, or
other personal effects according to individual preference, except
that the resident has the responsibility to maintain personal
hygiene;
(3) retain and use personal property in the resident's
immediate living quarters and to have an individual locked cabinet
in which to keep personal property;
(4) receive and send unopened mail;
(5) unaccompanied access to a telephone at a
reasonable hour or in case of an emergency or personal crisis;
(6) privacy;
(7) unrestricted communication, including personal
visitation with any person of the resident's choice, at any
reasonable hour, including family members and representatives of
advocacy groups and community service organizations;
(8) make contacts with the community and to achieve
the highest level of independence, autonomy, and interaction with
the community of which the resident is capable;
(9) present grievances on behalf of the resident or
others to the operator, state agencies, or other persons without
threat of reprisal in any manner;
(10) a safe and decent living environment and
considerate and respectful care that recognizes the dignity and
individuality of the resident;
(11) refuse to perform services for the facility,
except as contracted for by the resident and operator;
(12) practice the religion of the resident's choice;
(13) leave the facility temporarily or permanently,
subject to contractual or financial obligations; [and]
(14) receive information, at the time of admission and
annually following admission, about available programs providing
free or low-cost cellular telephones and free or low-cost cellular
telephone service plans to qualifying residents; and
(15) not be deprived of any constitutional, civil, or
legal right solely by reason of residence in an assisted living
facility.
SECTION 3. As soon as practicable after the effective date
of this Act, the executive commissioner of the Health and Human
Services Commission shall adopt the rules necessary to implement
the changes in law made by this Act.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.