HBA-CMT H.B. 100 77(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 100 By: Maxey Public Health 7/25/2001 Enrolled BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE The United States Congress and state legislatures have enacted many safeguards to protect consumers from unregulated health care activities. Both federal and state licensing agencies have developed rules to regulate professionals providing a service to consumers. With services to consumers now being provided via the Internet, there has been confusion as to whether the authority of state licensing authorities to regulate professionals on the Internet was the same as in a non-Internet situation. House Bill 100 clarifies that a state licensing authority has the same regulatory power over actions on the Internet as it has in a nonInternet setting. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. ANALYSIS House Bill 100 amends the Occupation Code to provide that the fact that a health care activity occurs through the use of the Internet does not affect a licensing authority's power to regulate an activity or person that would otherwise be regulated. EFFECTIVE DATE May 23, 2001.