85R5051 JG-D
By: Howard H.B. No. 943
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the establishment of the Transgender Healthcare
Advisory Committee.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. (a) In this section:
(1) "Advisory committee" means the Transgender
Healthcare Advisory Committee.
(2) "Executive commissioner" means the executive
commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission.
(b) The Health and Human Services Commission shall
establish the Transgender Healthcare Advisory Committee to develop
and provide recommendations on:
(1) the health care and insurance needs for persons
who identify as transgender; and
(2) the adverse health impacts for patients who do not
meet traditional gender standards under the Healthcare Common
Procedure Coding System adopted by the Centers for Medicare &
Medicaid Services of the United States Department of Health and
Human Services or the American Medical Association's Current
Procedural Terminology codes.
(c) The advisory committee is composed of 15 members
appointed by the executive commissioner, unless otherwise
provided, as follows:
(1) two representatives from a statewide or regional
lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender or gender-identity
advocacy organization;
(2) one physician with broad experience working with
persons who identify as transgender;
(3) one representative from a lesbian, gay, bisexual,
and transgender or gender-identity resource center;
(4) one representative from a statewide medical
association;
(5) one representative from a statewide physicians'
association;
(6) one representative from a statewide pediatric
physicians' association;
(7) one representative from a statewide insurance
association;
(8) one representative from the Health and Human
Services Commission;
(9) one representative from the Department of State
Health Services;
(10) one representative from the Department of Family
and Protective Services;
(11) one representative from the Texas Department of
Insurance, appointed by the commissioner of insurance;
(12) one representative from the Texas Department of
Criminal Justice, appointed by the executive director of the
department;
(13) one representative from The University of Texas
at Austin, Texas A&M University at College Station, or the
University of Houston; and
(14) one representative from The University of Texas
Health Science Center at Houston or The Texas A&M University Health
Science Center.
(d) The executive commissioner shall appoint a member of the
advisory committee to serve as presiding officer.
(e) A vacancy on the advisory committee shall be filled in
the same manner as the original appointment.
(f) A member of the advisory committee may not receive
compensation for service on the advisory committee, but is entitled
to reimbursement for actual and necessary expenses incurred in
performing advisory committee duties. The advisory committee may
accept gifts, grants, and donations to pay for those expenses.
(g) The advisory committee shall meet at least quarterly at
the call of the presiding officer and at other times as determined
by the presiding officer.
(h) The advisory committee shall develop recommendations to
address:
(1) the health care and insurance needs for persons
who identify as transgender;
(2) adverse health impacts for patients who do not
meet traditional gender standards under the Healthcare Common
Procedure Coding System adopted by the Centers for Medicare &
Medicaid Services of the United States Department of Health and
Human Services or the American Medical Association's Current
Procedural Terminology codes and continuing education for health
care professionals addressing those impacts; and
(3) the health care needs for inmates who identify as
transgender in jails and prisons in this state.
(i) The Health and Human Services Commission shall provide
administrative support for the advisory committee using existing
resources.
(j) Not later than August 31, 2018, the advisory committee
shall submit a final report to the governor, the lieutenant
governor, the speaker of the house of representatives, and the
executive commissioner with its findings and recommendations
described by Subsection (h) of this section.
(k) The advisory committee is abolished June 1, 2019.
SECTION 2. Not later than December 1, 2017, the executive
commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission, the
commissioner of insurance, and the executive director of the Texas
Department of Criminal Justice shall appoint members to the
Transgender Healthcare Advisory Committee established under this
Act.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2017.