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BCMS LEGISLATIVE
NEWS

85TH LEGISLATIVE SESSION
ADJOURNS SINE DIE

By Mary E. Nava, MBA, Chief Government Affairs Officer and Lobbyist

On May 29 (Memorial Day), the 85th Please stay tuned to this column for a complete legislative wrap-
Legislative Session came to a close. While up covering the 85th Session.
medicine issues saw a number of wins and
also the demise of some bad bills, a special For local discussion on these and other legislative advocacy topics,
session was looming on the horizon target- consider joining the BCMS Legislative and Socioeconomics Com-
ing the state agencies under Sunset, includ- mittee by contacting Mary Nava at mary.nava@bcms.org.
ing the Texas Medical Board. Gov. Greg
Abbott as anticipated, has called the Legis-
lature back to work and a special session is
set to begin July 18.

At the time of this writing, several bills
have already been signed into law by Gov.
Abbott and others were on his desk await-
ing action. Signed legislation includes:

Billing Mediation - Senate Bill 507 by Sen.
Kelly Hancock (R-North Richland Hills) and
Rep. John Frullo (R-Lubbock) which ex-
pands the billing mediation process to all
physicians and others providing out-of-net-
work services at certain in-network facilities;
also expands mediation to out-of-network sit-
uations for emergency care.

Step Therapy - Senate Bill 680 by Sen.
Hancock empowers physicians to override
health plans’ step therapy protocols.

Telemedicine - Senate Bill 1107 by Sen.
Charles Schwertner, MD (R-Georgetown),
establishes a statutory definition for
telemedicine and clarifies that the standard
of care for a traditional, in-person medical
setting also applies to telemedicine services.
In the House, Rep. Four Price (R-Amarillo)
added language making it clearer that
telemedicine is not a distinct service, but a
tool physicians can use. Health plans are prohibited from exclud-
ing telemedicine from coverage just because the care isn’t provided
in person.

CPRIT - Senate Bill 224 by Sen. Kirk Watson (D-Austin) extends
the sunset date of the cancer research organization from 2021 to 2023,
and also adds two years to its eligibility to allocate funds, to 2022.

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