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BCMS LEGISLATIVE NEWS
50,000 Members Strong
Working together helped medicine prevail
in the 2017 Texas Legislative session
We Succeeded with Good Bills
SB 507 by Hancock, expanding balance billing mediation
SB 680 by Hancock, allowing physician override on medication step therapy
HB 10 by Price, improving access/benefits for mental health and substance use
HB 62 by Craddick, banning texting while driving
SB 1107 by Schwertner, allowing telemedicine services
HB 435 by King, restricting carrying handguns at state hospitals
SB 1148 by Buckingham, limiting maintenance of certification
We Defeated Bad Bills
HB 719 by Wu, indexing caps in the 2003 tort reform law
HB 1070 by Leach, prohibiting refusal to care for a patient based on immunization status
HB 1415 by Klick, allowing APRNs full practice authority
HB 593 by Burrows, allowing psychologist to prescribe
SB 728 by V. Taylor, allowing direct access to physical therapists
SB 2127 by L. Taylor, interference with physicians collecting on unpaid bills
HB 4011 by Burrows, requiring physicians to present exact estimates before providing services
HB 1675 by Flynn, requiring physicians to accept health plans’ payments via virtual credit card
HB 1124 by Krause, making it easier to opt out of vaccinations
We Continue to Work on Important Bills
HB 2760 by Bonnen, requiring daily updates of health plan network directories
HB 2249 by Sheffield, protecting parents’ right to know about vaccine exemptions
HB 1908 by Zerwas, raising the age for using tobacco products from 18 to 21
HB 3124 by Gooden, allowing physicians to compare data in physician-run ACOs
SB 833 by Hughes, protecting whistleblowers and prohibiting the corporate practice
of medicine
www.texmed.org
44 San Antonio Medicine • August 2017
