89R15206 LRM-D
By: Leach H.B. No. 4076
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to prohibiting organ transplant recipient discrimination
on the basis of vaccination status.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter S, Chapter 161, Health and Safety
Code, is amended by adding Section 161.474 to read as follows:
Sec. 161.474. DISCRIMINATION ON BASIS OF VACCINATION STATUS
PROHIBITED. (a) A health care provider may not, solely on the
basis of an individual's vaccination status:
(1) determine an individual is ineligible to receive
an organ transplant;
(2) deny medical or other services related to an organ
transplant, including evaluation, surgery, counseling, and
postoperative treatment;
(3) refuse to refer the individual to a transplant
center or other related specialist for evaluation or receipt of an
organ transplant; or
(4) refuse to place the individual on an organ
transplant waiting list or place the individual at a position lower
in priority on the list than the position the individual would have
been placed if not for the individual's vaccination status.
(b) Notwithstanding Subsection (a), a health care provider
may consider an individual's vaccination status when making a
treatment recommendation or decision solely to the extent that a
physician, following an individualized evaluation of the potential
transplant recipient, determines the vaccination status is
medically significant to the organ transplant. This section does
not require a referral or recommendation for, or the performance
of, a medically inappropriate organ transplant.
(c) This section applies to each stage of the organ
transplant process.
(d) A person may not take an adverse action or impose a
penalty of any kind against a health care provider based solely on
the fact that the health care provider complied with Subsection
(a).
(e) A physician who in good faith makes a determination that
an individual's vaccination status is medically significant to the
organ transplant, as described by Subsection (b), does not violate
this section.
(f) A health care provider may:
(1) develop alternative risk mitigation strategies,
including antibody testing, prophylactic treatments, and antiviral
therapy, in lieu of requiring a vaccination; and
(2) inform patients of the risks and benefits of
receiving a vaccination.
SECTION 2. Not later than January 1, 2026, the executive
commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission shall
adopt any rules necessary to implement Section 161.474, Health and
Safety Code, as added by this Act.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.