| 1 | 1 | | 88R11042 MEW-F |
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| 2 | 2 | | By: Cook, Goldman, Capriglione, Schatzline H.B. No. 3381 |
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| 3 | 3 | | |
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| 4 | 4 | | |
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| 5 | 5 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 6 | 6 | | AN ACT |
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| 7 | 7 | | relating to creating the criminal offense of misrepresenting |
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| 8 | 8 | | medical history to obtain unnecessary medical treatment for a |
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| 9 | 9 | | child, elderly individual, or disabled individual. |
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| 10 | 10 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 11 | 11 | | SECTION 1. This Act shall be known as Alyssa's Law. |
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| 12 | 12 | | SECTION 2. Chapter 22, Penal Code, is amended by adding |
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| 13 | 13 | | Section 22.042 to read as follows: |
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| 14 | 14 | | Sec. 22.042. MISREPRESENTING MEDICAL HISTORY TO OBTAIN |
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| 15 | 15 | | UNNECESSARY MEDICAL TREATMENT FOR CHILD, ELDERLY INDIVIDUAL, OR |
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| 16 | 16 | | DISABLED INDIVIDUAL. (a) In this section: |
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| 17 | 17 | | (1) "Child" means a person younger than 18 years of |
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| 18 | 18 | | age. |
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| 19 | 19 | | (2) "Disabled individual" and "elderly individual" |
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| 20 | 20 | | have the meanings assigned by Section 22.04. |
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| 21 | 21 | | (3) "Health care institution or provider" means a |
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| 22 | 22 | | health care institution or a health care provider, as those terms |
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| 23 | 23 | | are defined by Section 74.001, Civil Practice and Remedies Code, or |
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| 24 | 24 | | an affiliate, as defined by that section, of a health care |
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| 25 | 25 | | institution or health care provider. |
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| 26 | 26 | | (4) "Medical history" means any oral, written, or |
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| 27 | 27 | | electronic communication regarding an individual's current or |
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| 28 | 28 | | previous symptoms, diagnoses, or family medical history. The term |
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| 29 | 29 | | does not include a communication regarding an individual's |
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| 30 | 30 | | vaccination history. |
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| 31 | 31 | | (b) A person commits an offense if: |
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| 32 | 32 | | (1) the person knowingly misrepresents the medical |
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| 33 | 33 | | history of a child, elderly individual, or disabled individual to a |
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| 34 | 34 | | health care institution or provider with the intent to obtain |
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| 35 | 35 | | unnecessary medical treatment for the child, elderly individual, or |
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| 36 | 36 | | disabled individual; and |
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| 37 | 37 | | (2) the unnecessary medical treatment for the child, |
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| 38 | 38 | | elderly individual, or disabled individual obtained by |
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| 39 | 39 | | misrepresentation under Subdivision (1) causes the child, elderly |
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| 40 | 40 | | individual, or disabled individual to suffer: |
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| 41 | 41 | | (A) bodily injury; or |
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| 42 | 42 | | (B) mental deficiency, impairment, or injury. |
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| 43 | 43 | | (c) An offense under this section is a felony of the third |
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| 44 | 44 | | degree. |
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| 45 | 45 | | SECTION 3. The change in law made by this Act applies only |
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| 46 | 46 | | to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act. |
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| 47 | 47 | | An offense committed before the effective date of this Act is |
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| 48 | 48 | | governed by the law in effect on the date the offense was committed, |
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| 49 | 49 | | and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For |
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| 50 | 50 | | purposes of this section, an offense was committed before the |
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| 51 | 51 | | effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurred |
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| 52 | 52 | | before that date. |
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| 53 | 53 | | SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023. |
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