HBA-MSH, CCH C.S.H.B. 1156 77(R)BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisC.S.H.B. 1156
By: Coleman
Public Health
3/29/2001
Committee Report (Substituted)



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

The Texas Department of Health (TDH) estimates that 164,000 women per year
receive Medicaid-funded women's health services, which include physical
examinations, laboratory testing, counseling on contraception, and breast
and cervical cancer screening.  To be eligible for these services, a woman
must be less than 60 days postpartum and have a family income below 185
percent of the federal poverty level, or either be receiving financial
assistance from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, or be
enrolled in a transitional Medicaid welfare-to-work program.  TDH also
approximates that an additional 300,000 women receive women's heath
services funded by the family planning services project grant, the social
services block grant, and the maternal and child health block grant.  TDH
estimates that an additional one million uninsured working women with
family incomes at or below 185 percent of the federal poverty level do not
have regular access to women's health services.  Expanding Medicaid
coverage for women's health services to all women between the ages of 13
and 44 years old with family incomes at or below 185 percent of the federal
poverty level will allow an additional 600,000 women access to these
services, according to TDH projections.  TDH expects to realize cost
savings through this expansion by averting Medicaid- funded pregnancies.
C.S.H.B.1156 creates a women's health care demonstration project to expand
access to preventive health and family planning services and prohibits the
use of funds for abortion related activities. 

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

C.S.H.B. 1156 amends the Human Resources Code to require the Health and
Human Services Commission (HHSC) to establish a five-year demonstration
project through the medical assistance program to expand access to
preventive health and family planning services for women.  The bill
provides that a women is eligible to participate in the demonstration
project if she is of childbearing age, has a net family income that is at
or below 185 percent of the federal poverty level, and is not otherwise
eligible for the medical assistance program.  The bill sets forth the
services a participant may receive.  The bill also requires HHSC to compile
a list of potential funding sources a client can use to help pay for
treatment for health problems identified using preventive health services
provided under the medical assistance program for which the client is not
eligible to receive treatment under the program.  The bill requires HHSC to
submit a report to the legislature not later than December 1 of each
even-numbered year regarding HHSC's progress in establishing and operating
the demonstration project.   The project expires September 1, 2007. The
bill prohibits the use of funds, either directly or indirectly, for
abortion or abortion-related services unless allowed under federal law and
regulation and requires HHSC to perform an audit to ensure compliance with
the prohibition. 

EFFECTIVE DATE

On passage, or if the Act does not receive the necessary vote, the Act
takes effect September 1, 2001. 
 
COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE

C.S.H.B. 1156 differs from the original by creating a women's health care
demonstration project rather than changing the eligibility cap for medical
assistance for preventive health and family planning services for women.
The substitute also prohibits the use of funds for abortion or
abortion-related activities and requires HHSC to perform an audit to ensure
compliance with the prohibition.  The substitute also requires HHSC to
submit a progress report to the legislature every two years and provides
that the project expires in 2007.