Texas 2017 - 85th Regular

Texas House Bill HB3576 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New		Differences
1		-	H.B. No. 3576
	1	+	By: Guerra, et al. (Senate Sponsor - Schwertner) H.B. No. 3576
	2	+	(In the Senate - Received from the House May 15, 2017;
	3	+	May 15, 2017, read first time and referred to Committee on Health &
	4	+	Human Services; May 19, 2017, reported favorably by the following
	5	+	vote: Yeas 8, Nays 0; May 19, 2017, sent to printer.)
	6	+	Click here to see the committee vote
2	7
3	8
	9	+	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
4	10		AN ACT
5	11		relating to the investigation of, and release of information
6	12		concerning, communicable disease, including the Zika virus and
7	13		other high consequence communicable diseases.
8	14		BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
9	15		SECTION 1. Section 81.046(c), Health and Safety Code, as
10	16		amended by Chapters 789 (H.B. 2646) and 1278 (S.B. 1574), Acts of
11	17		the 84th Legislature, Regular Session, 2015, is reenacted and
12	18		amended to read as follows:
13	19		(c) Medical or epidemiological information, including
14	20		information linking a person who is exposed to a person with a
15	21		communicable disease, may be released:
16	22		(1) for statistical purposes if released in a manner
17	23		that prevents the identification of any person;
18	24		(2) with the consent of each person identified in the
19	25		information;
20	26		(3) to medical personnel treating the individual,
21	27		appropriate state agencies in this state or another state, a health
22	28		authority or local health department in this state or another
23	29		state, or federal, county, or district courts to comply with this
24	30		chapter and related rules relating to the control and treatment of
25	31		communicable diseases and health conditions or under another state
26	32		or federal law that expressly authorizes the disclosure of this
27	33		information;
28	34		(4) to appropriate federal agencies, such as the
29	35		Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [of the United States
30	36		Public Health Service], but, except as provided under Subsection
31	37		(c-3), the information must be limited to the name, address, sex,
32	38		race, and occupation of the patient, the date of disease onset, the
33	39		probable source of infection, and other requested information
34	40		relating to the case or suspected case of a communicable disease or
35	41		health condition;
36	42		(5) to medical personnel to the extent necessary in a
37	43		medical emergency to protect the health or life of the person
38	44		identified in the information; [or]
39	45		(6) to a designated infection control officer;
40	46		(7) [(6)] to governmental entities that provide first
41	47		responders who may respond to a situation involving a potential
42	48		communicable disease of concern and need the information to
43	49		properly respond to the situation; or
44	50		(8) [(7)] to a local health department or health
45	51		authority for a designated monitoring period based on the potential
46	52		risk for developing symptoms of a communicable disease of concern.
47	53		SECTION 2. Section 81.046, Health and Safety Code, is
48	54		amended by adding Subsection (c-3) to read as follows:
49	55		(c-3) The following medical or epidemiological information
50	56		relating to a person who has or is suspected of having a present or
51	57		potential health condition resulting from exposure to a high
52		-	consequence communicable disease
53		-	as defined by the department,
54		-	including the Zika virus, may be released to an appropriate federal
55		-	agency:
	58	+	consequence communicable disease, such as the Zika virus, may be
	59	+	released to an appropriate federal agency:
56	60		(1) the name, address, sex, race, and occupation of
57	61		the person;
58	62		(2) the date of the onset of the health condition;
59	63		(3) the probable source of infection or exposure; and
60	64		(4) other requested information relating to the case
61	65		or suspected case of the infection.
62	66		SECTION 3. Sections 81.061(a) and (c), Health and Safety
63	67		Code, are amended to read as follows:
64	68		(a) The department shall investigate the causes and effects
65	69		of communicable disease and methods of prevention.
66	70		(c) The department may investigate the existence of
67	71		communicable disease in the state to determine the nature and
68	72		extent of the disease and potential effects on the health of
69	73		individuals and to formulate and evaluate the control measures used
70	74		to protect the public health. A person shall provide records and
71	75		other information to the department on request according to the
72	76		department's written instructions.
73	77		SECTION 4. To the extent of any conflict, this Act prevails
74	78		over another Act of the 85th Legislature, Regular Session, 2017,
75	79		relating to nonsubstantive additions to and corrections in enacted
76	80		codes.
77	81		SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.
78		-	______________________________ ______________________________
79		-	President of the Senate Speaker of the House
80		-	I certify that H.B. No. 3576 was passed by the House on May
81		-	12, 2017, by the following vote: Yeas 139, Nays 3, 1 present, not
82		-	voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.
83		-	No. 3576 on May 26, 2017, by the following vote: Yeas 144, Nays 0,
84		-	2 present, not voting.
85		-	______________________________
86		-	Chief Clerk of the House
87		-	I certify that H.B. No. 3576 was passed by the Senate, with
88		-	amendments, on May 24, 2017, by the following vote: Yeas 30, Nays
89		-	1.
90		-	______________________________
91		-	Secretary of the Senate
92		-	APPROVED: __________________
93		-	Date
94		-	__________________
95		-	Governor
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