Bill Text: TX HB390 | 2015-2016 | 84th Legislature | Introduced


Bill Title: Relating to the establishment of the Veterans Recovery Program to provide certain veterans with hyperbaric oxygen treatment.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2015-02-12 - Referred to Public Health [HB390 Detail]

Download: Texas-2015-HB390-Introduced.html
  84R2315 SCL-D
 
  By: White of Tyler H.B. No. 390
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the establishment of the Veterans Recovery Program to
  provide certain veterans with hyperbaric oxygen treatment.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Subtitle B, Title 2, Health and Safety Code, is
  amended by adding Chapter 49 to read as follows:
  CHAPTER 49. VETERANS RECOVERY PROGRAM
         Sec. 49.001.  DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
               (1)  "Commissioner" means the commissioner of state
  health services.
               (2)  "Department" means the Department of State Health
  Services.
               (3)  "Executive commissioner" means the executive
  commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission.
               (4)  "Facility" includes a hospital, public health
  clinic, outpatient health clinic, community health center, and any
  other facility authorized under department rules to provide
  hyperbaric oxygen treatment under this chapter.
               (5)  "Health care practitioner" means a person who is
  licensed to provide medical or other health care in this state and
  who has prescriptive authority, including a physician.
               (6)  "Hyperbaric oxygen treatment" means treatment for
  traumatic brain injury or post-traumatic stress disorder
  prescribed by a health care practitioner and delivered in:
                     (A)  a hyperbaric chamber approved by the United
  States Food and Drug Administration; or
                     (B)  a hyperbaric oxygen device that is approved
  by the United States Food and Drug Administration for
  investigational use under the direction of an institutional review
  board with a national clinical trial number.
               (7)  "Physician" means a person licensed to practice
  medicine by the Texas Medical Board.
               (8)  "Program" means the Veterans Recovery Program
  established under this chapter.
               (9)  "Traumatic brain injury" means an acquired injury
  to the brain. The term does not include brain dysfunction caused by
  congenital or degenerative disorders or birth trauma.
               (10)  "Veteran" means an individual who has served in:
                     (A)  the army, navy, air force, coast guard, or
  marine corps of the United States;
                     (B)  the state military forces as defined by
  Section 431.001, Government Code; or
                     (C)  an auxiliary service of one of those branches
  of the armed forces.
         Sec. 49.002.  ESTABLISHMENT AND OPERATION OF PROGRAM. (a)
  The department shall establish and operate the Veterans Recovery
  Program to provide diagnostic services, hyperbaric oxygen
  treatment, and support services to eligible veterans who have
  post-traumatic stress disorder or a traumatic brain injury.
         (b)  The commissioner may appoint an advisory board to assist
  the department in developing the program.
         Sec. 49.003.  RULES.  The executive commissioner shall adopt
  rules to implement this chapter, including standards for veteran
  and facility eligibility under the program and standards to ensure
  patient confidentiality is protected under the program.  The
  standards must require that:
               (1)  eligible facilities comply with applicable fire
  codes, oversight requirements, and any treatment protocols
  provided in department rules; and
               (2)  eligible participants in the program reside in
  this state.
         Sec. 49.004.  VETERANS RECOVERY ACCOUNT. (a) The veterans
  recovery account is a dedicated account in the general revenue
  fund.
         (b)  The veterans recovery account consists of:
               (1)  appropriations of money to the account by the
  legislature;
               (2)  gifts, grants, and other donations received for
  the account;
               (3)  reimbursement received from the Medicaid and
  Medicare programs, the TRICARE program of the United States
  Department of Defense, the federal government, or a third party
  payor for treatment rendered under the program; and
               (4)  interest earned on the investment of money in the
  fund.
         (c)  Section 403.071, Government Code, does not apply to the
  veterans recovery account.
         (d)  The commissioner shall administer the account. Money in
  the account may be used only to pay for:
               (1)  expenses of administering the program;
               (2)  diagnostic testing and treatment of a veteran with
  post-traumatic stress disorder or a traumatic brain injury under
  the program; and
               (3)  a veteran's necessary travel and living expenses
  for a veteran required to travel to obtain treatment under the
  program.
         (e)  The commissioner shall seek reimbursement for payments
  made under the program from the Medicaid and Medicare programs, the
  TRICARE program of the United States Department of Defense,
  appropriate federal agencies, and any other responsible third party
  payor.
         Sec. 49.005.  HYPERBARIC OXYGEN TREATMENT; RESERVATION OF
  FUNDS.  (a)  The executive commissioner by rule shall adopt
  standards for the provision of hyperbaric oxygen treatment under
  the program to veterans who have been diagnosed with post-traumatic
  stress disorder or a traumatic brain injury, have been prescribed
  hyperbaric oxygen treatment by a health care practitioner, and
  voluntarily agree to treatment under the program.
         (b)  A facility providing medical care to a veteran who is
  eligible for hyperbaric oxygen treatment under the program may
  apply for reimbursement for treatment under the program.
         (c)  The facility must submit a treatment plan to the
  department before providing treatment under the program. The
  treatment plan must include:
               (1)  a prescription order for hyperbaric oxygen
  treatment issued by a health care practitioner;
               (2)  verification of facility and veteran eligibility;
               (3)  an estimate of the treatment costs and of the
  veteran's necessary travel and living expenses for a veteran
  required to travel to obtain the treatment; and
               (4)  any other information required by the department.
         (d)  The department shall approve or disapprove a treatment
  plan within a reasonable time as established by department rule.
  The department shall notify the facility whether the treatment plan
  was approved or disapproved by the department.
         (e)  The department may not approve the provision of
  hyperbaric oxygen treatment under the program unless the facility
  is in compliance with applicable department standards and rules and
  the veteran is eligible for treatment under the program.
         (f)  If there is sufficient money in the veterans recovery
  account, the department shall approve each treatment plan that
  meets the requirements of this section and the standards adopted
  under this chapter.
         (g)  The commissioner shall reserve in the veterans recovery
  account an amount equal to the estimated treatment costs and
  necessary travel and living expenses specified in the treatment
  plan for each veteran that is approved for treatment under the
  program.
         Sec. 49.006.  PROVISION OF SERVICES; REIMBURSEMENT. (a) A
  facility may provide hyperbaric oxygen treatment under the program
  to a veteran who has post-traumatic stress disorder or a traumatic
  brain injury if the department approved a treatment plan under
  Section 49.005 for the veteran.
         (b)  A facility that elects to provide hyperbaric oxygen
  treatment to a veteran under Subsection (a) shall provide the
  treatment without charge to the veteran. A veteran receiving
  treatment under the program is not liable for the cost of treatment
  or expenses incurred under the program. The facility may submit to
  the department a request for reimbursement from the veterans
  recovery account for expenses incurred for the treatment.
         (c)  A facility that elects to provide treatment under the
  program shall submit to the department regular reports, in the form
  prescribed by the department, of the veteran's measured health
  improvements under the treatment plan.
         (d)  The commissioner shall reimburse a facility for
  expenses the facility incurred in providing the hyperbaric oxygen
  treatment from the veterans recovery account if:
               (1)  the treatment was provided according to the
  treatment plan approved by the department;
               (2)  the expenses do not exceed the amount reserved for
  the treatment under Section 49.005; and
               (3)  the facility demonstrates in the reports described
  by Subsection (c) that the veteran is making measured health
  improvements.
         (e)  If expenses for the treatment exceed funds reserved for
  the treatment under Section 49.005, the state and the veterans
  recovery account are not liable for the amount in excess of the
  reserved funds.
         (f)  A facility may submit an updated treatment plan under
  Section 49.005 to request the reservation of funds in addition to
  funds reserved under the original treatment plan.
         (g)  From money in the veterans recovery account, the
  commissioner shall reimburse a veteran required to travel to obtain
  treatment under the program for the travel and living expenses
  approved by the department in the treatment plan.  The expenses may
  not exceed the amount reserved for those expenses under Section
  49.005.
         Sec. 49.007.  TERMINATION OF RESERVATION OF FUNDS. (a) If
  the facility or veteran fails to request reimbursement for
  treatment or for travel and living expenses under the program for at
  least six months following the conclusion of treatment, the
  department shall notify the facility and the veteran receiving
  treatment under the facility's treatment plan that the funding
  reserved for the treatment and expenses will be terminated on the
  90th day after the date the department provides notice under this
  subsection unless the facility or veteran notifies the department
  of continued treatment and expenses under the program or requests
  reimbursement for the treatment already provided or expenses
  already incurred under the program.
         (b)  If a facility or veteran fails to notify the department
  of continued treatment and expenses in the time required under
  Subsection (a), the commissioner shall terminate the reservation of
  funds in the veterans recovery account under the facility's
  treatment plan for that veteran.
         Sec. 49.008.  REPORT. Not later than October 1 of each
  even-numbered year, the department shall submit to the governor,
  lieutenant governor, speaker of the house of representatives, and
  appropriate standing committees of the legislature a report
  regarding the program that includes an evaluation of the
  effectiveness of the program and the number of veterans and
  facilities participating in the program.
         SECTION 2.  The executive commissioner of the Health and
  Human Services Commission shall adopt the rules necessary to
  implement Chapter 49, Health and Safety Code, as added by this Act,
  not later than January 1, 2016.
         SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.
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