83R2135 EES-D
By: Uresti S.B. No. 1751
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the allocation of beds in and the commitment of certain
persons to certain mental health facilities.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 533, Health and Safety
Code, is amended by adding Sections 533.051, 533.052, and 533.053
to read as follows:
Sec. 533.051. ALLOCATION OF BEDS IN STATE HOSPITALS. (a)
The commission shall plan separately for the allocation of beds in
the state hospitals for the following two groups of patients:
(1) patients who are voluntarily admitted to a state
hospital under Chapter 572, admitted to a state hospital for
emergency detention under Chapter 573, or ordered by a court to
receive inpatient mental health services at a state hospital under
Chapter 574; and
(2) patients who are committed to a state hospital for
an examination of competency or to attain competency to stand trial
under Chapter 46B, Code of Criminal Procedure, or to receive
inpatient mental health services following an acquittal by reason
of insanity under Chapter 46C, Code of Criminal Procedure.
(b) The plan developed by the commission under Subsection
(a) must include:
(1) separate determinations of the minimum numbers of
beds that the state hospital system is required to maintain for the
two groups of patients described by Subsection (a);
(2) a statewide plan for the separate allocation of
funds for the maintenance of beds by the state hospitals for the two
groups of patients; and
(3) a process to adjust the number of beds made
available to the two groups of patients based on the success the
commission has in contracting with private mental health facilities
under Sections 533.034 and 533.052.
(c) In developing a plan under Subsection (a), the
commission shall consider:
(1) the frequency of use of beds and the historical
patterns of use of beds in each state hospital by the two groups of
patients described by Subsection (a);
(2) local needs and demands for beds in each state
hospital for the two groups of patients;
(3) the availability of private mental health
facilities with which the commission may contract to provide beds
for the two groups of patients; and
(4) the differences between the two groups of patients
described by Subsection (a) with regard to:
(A) admission to and discharge from a state
hospital;
(B) rapid stabilization and discharge to the
community;
(C) length of stay in a state hospital;
(D) disputes arising from the determination of a
patient's length of stay in a state hospital by a health maintenance
organization or a managed care organization;
(E) third-party billing; and
(F) legal challenges or requirements related to
the examination and treatment of the group of patients described by
Subsection (a)(2).
(d) The commission shall update the plan biennially.
Sec. 533.052. CONTRACTING WITH PRIVATE MENTAL HEALTH
FACILITIES TO PROVIDE BEDS FOR CERTAIN PERSONS. The commission
shall make every effort to contract with private mental health
facilities to make available a sufficient number of beds, as
specified in the plan developed by the commission under Section
533.051, for the group of patients described by Section
533.051(a)(2) to ensure that a sufficient number of beds in state
hospitals are available for the group of patients described by
Section 533.051(a)(1).
Sec. 533.053. INFORMING COURTS OF COMMITMENT OPTIONS. The
commission shall develop and implement a procedure through which a
court that has the authority to commit a person who is incompetent
to stand trial or who has been acquitted by reason of insanity is
aware of all of the mental health facilities in which beds are
available and to which the court may commit the person as provided
by Chapters 46B and 46C, Code of Criminal Procedure, including
private mental health facilities that contract with the commission
under Section 533.052.
SECTION 2. Not later than December 1, 2013, the executive
commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission shall
adopt any rules necessary to implement Section 533.051, Health and
Safety Code, as added by this Act, and the rules required by Section
533.053, Health and Safety Code, as added by this Act.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.