Texas 2017 - 85th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB933 Compare Versions

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Version 2 (New)

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1	1	By: Schwertner, et al. S.B. No. 933
2	2	(Klick)
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to the licensing of, the executive commissioner of the
8	8	Health and Human Services Commission's duties with respect to, and
9	9	the administrative penalties for home and community support
10	10	services agencies.
11	11	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
12	12	SECTION 1. Sections 142.006(a), (b), and (c), Health and
13	13	Safety Code, are amended to read as follows:
14	14	(a) The commission [department] shall issue a home and
15	15	community support services agency license to provide home health,
16	16	hospice, habilitation, or personal assistance services for each
17	17	place of business to an applicant if:
18	18	(1) the applicant:
19	19	(A) qualifies for the license to provide the type
20	20	of service that is to be offered by the applicant;
21	21	(B) submits an application and license fee as
22	22	required by this chapter; and
23	23	(C) complies with all applicable licensing
24	24	standards required or adopted under this chapter; and
25	25	(2) any controlling person with respect to the
26	26	applicant complies with all applicable licensing standards
27	27	required or adopted under this chapter.
28	28	(b) A license issued under this chapter expires three [two]
29	29	years after the date of issuance. The executive commissioner by
30	30	rule shall [may] adopt a system under which licenses expire on
31	31	staggered [various] dates during each three-year [the two-year]
32	32	period. The commission shall prorate the license fee as
33	33	appropriate if the expiration date of a license changes as a result
34	34	of this subsection [For the year in which a license expiration date
35	35	is changed, the department shall prorate the license fee on a
36	36	monthly basis. Each license holder shall pay only that portion of
37	37	the license fee allocable to the number of months for which the
38	38	license is valid. A license holder shall pay the total license
39	39	renewal fee at the time of renewal. The department may issue an
40	40	initial license for a shorter term to conform expiration dates for a
41	41	locality or an applicant. The department may issue a temporary
42	42	license to an applicant for an initial license].
43	43	(c) The commission [department] may find that a home and
44	44	community support services agency has satisfied the requirements
45	45	for licensing if the agency is accredited by an accreditation
46	46	organization, such as The Joint Commission or the Community Health
47	47	Accreditation Program, and the commission [department] finds that
48	48	the accreditation organization has standards that meet or exceed
49	49	the requirements for licensing under this chapter. A license fee is
50	50	required of the home and community support services agency at the
51	51	time of a license application.
52	52	SECTION 2. Sections 142.010(a) and (b), Health and Safety
53	53	Code, are amended to read as follows:
54	54	(a) The executive commissioner by rule shall set license
55	55	fees for home and community support services agencies in amounts
56	56	that are reasonable to meet the costs of administering this
57	57	chapter, except that the fees may not be less than $600 or more than
58	58	$3,000 [$2,000] for a license to provide home health, hospice,
59	59	habilitation, or personal assistance services.
60	60	(b) The executive commissioner shall consider the size of
61	61	the home and community support services agency, the number of
62	62	clients served, the number of services provided, and the necessity
63	63	for review of other accreditation documentation in determining the
64	64	amount collected by the commission [department] for initial and
65	65	renewal license fees.
66	66	SECTION 3. Section 142.017, Health and Safety Code, is
67	67	amended by amending Subsections (a), (b), (c), (e), (i), and (j) and
68	68	adding Subsections (k) and (l) to read as follows:
69	69	(a) The commission [department] may assess an
70	70	administrative penalty against a person who violates:
71	71	(1) this chapter or a rule adopted under this chapter;
72	72	or
73	73	(2) Section 102.001, Occupations Code, if the
74	74	violation relates to the provision of home health, hospice,
75	75	habilitation, or personal assistance services.
76	76	(b) The penalty shall be not less than $100 or more than
77	77	$1,000 for each violation, except that the penalty shall be not less
78	78	than $100 or more than $5,000 for each violation that results in
79	79	actual harm or that constitutes an immediate threat to the health or
80	80	safety of a client. Each day of a violation that occurs before the
81	81	day on which the person receives written notice of the violation
82	82	from the commission [department] does not constitute a separate
83	83	violation and shall be considered to be one violation. Each day of
84	84	a continuing violation that occurs after the day on which the person
85	85	receives written notice of the violation from the commission
86	86	[department] constitutes a separate violation.
87	87	(c) The executive commissioner by rule shall specify each
88	88	violation for which the commission [department] may assess an
89	89	administrative penalty. In determining which violations warrant
90	90	penalties, the commission [department] shall consider:
91	91	(1) the seriousness of the violation, including the
92	92	nature, circumstances, extent, and gravity of the violation and the
93	93	hazard of the violation to the health or safety of clients; and
94	94	(2) whether the affected home and community support
95	95	services agency had identified the violation as a part of its
96	96	internal quality assurance process and had made appropriate
97	97	progress on correction.
98	98	(e) Except as provided by Subsection (j), the executive
99	99	commissioner by rule shall provide the home and community support
100	100	services agency with a reasonable period of time following the
101	101	first day of a violation to correct the violation before the
102	102	commission [department] assesses an administrative penalty if a
103	103	plan of correction has been implemented.
104	104	(i) The commission [department] may not assess an
105	105	administrative penalty against a state agency.
106	106	(j) The commission [department] may assess an
107	107	administrative penalty without providing a reasonable period of
108	108	time to a home and community support services [the] agency to
109	109	correct the violation if the violation:
110	110	(1) represents a pattern of violation that results in
111	111	actual [serious] harm [or death];
112	112	(2) is widespread in scope and results in actual harm;
113	113	(3) is widespread in scope and constitutes a potential
114	114	for actual harm;
115	115	(4) [(2)] constitutes an immediate [a serious] threat
116	116	to the health or safety of a client;
117	117	(5) [(3)] substantially limits the agency's capacity
118	118	to provide care;
119	119	(6) [(4)] is a violation in which a person:
120	120	(A) makes a false statement, that the person
121	121	knows or should know is false, of a material fact:
122	122	(i) on an application for issuance or
123	123	renewal of a license or in an attachment to the application; or
124	124	(ii) with respect to a matter under
125	125	investigation by the commission [department];
126	126	(B) refuses to allow a representative of the
127	127	commission [department] to inspect a book, record, or file required
128	128	to be maintained by an agency;
129	129	(C) wilfully interferes with the work of a
130	130	representative of the commission [department] or the enforcement of
131	131	this chapter;
132	132	(D) wilfully interferes with a representative of
133	133	the commission [department] preserving evidence of a violation of
134	134	this chapter or a rule, standard, or order adopted or license issued
135	135	under this chapter;
136	136	(E) fails to pay a penalty assessed by the
137	137	commission [department] under this chapter not later than the 10th
138	138	day after the date the assessment of the penalty becomes final; or
139	139	(F) fails to submit:
140	140	(i) a plan of correction not later than the
141	141	10th day after the date the person receives a statement of licensing
142	142	violations; or
143	143	(ii) an acceptable plan of correction not
144	144	later than the 30th day after the date the person receives
145	145	notification from the commission [department] that the previously
146	146	submitted plan of correction is not acceptable;
147	147	(7) [(5)] is a violation of Section 142.0145; or
148	148	(8) [(6)] involves the rights of the elderly under
149	149	Chapter 102, Human Resources Code.
150	150	(k) The commission shall develop and use a system to record
151	151	and track the scope and severity of each violation of this chapter
152	152	or a rule adopted under this chapter for the purpose of assessing an
153	153	administrative penalty for the violation or taking some other
154	154	enforcement action against the appropriate home and community
155	155	support services agency to deter future violations. The system:
156	156	(1) must be comparable to the system used by the
157	157	Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to categorize the scope
158	158	and severity of violations for nursing homes; and
159	159	(2) may be modified, as appropriate, to reflect
160	160	changes in industry practice or changes made to the system used by
161	161	the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
162	162	(l) In this section:
163	163	(1) "Actual harm" means a negative outcome that
164	164	compromises a client's physical, mental, or emotional well-being.
165	165	(2) "Immediate threat to the health or safety of a
166	166	client" means a situation that causes, or is likely to cause,
167	167	serious injury, harm, or impairment to or the death of a client.
168	168	(3) "Pattern of violation" means repeated, but not
169	169	pervasive, failures of a home and community support services agency
170	170	to comply with this chapter or a rule adopted under this chapter
171	171	that:
172	172	(A) result in a violation; and
173	173	(B) are found throughout the services provided by
174	174	the agency or that affect or involve the same clients or agency
175	175	employees or volunteers.
176	176	(4) "Widespread in scope" means a violation of this
177	177	chapter or a rule adopted under this chapter that:
178	178	(A) is pervasive throughout the services
179	179	provided by the home and community support services agency; or
180	180	(B) represents a systemic failure by the home and
181	181	community support services agency that affects or has the potential
182	182	to affect a large portion of or all of the clients of the agency.
183	183	SECTION 4. As soon as practicable after the effective date
184	184	of this Act and after consulting with appropriate stakeholders, the
185	185	executive commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission
186	186	shall develop and adopt rules necessary to implement the changes in
187	187	law made by this Act.
188	188	SECTION 5. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
189	189	actions taken by the Health and Human Services Commission and
190	190	license holders under Chapter 142, Health and Safety Code, on or
191	191	after the effective date of this Act. An action taken before the
192	192	effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect at that
193	193	time, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
194	194	SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.