HBA-MPM H.B. 342 77(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 342
By: McClendon
Public Health
3/5/2001
Introduced



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

The House Committee on Public Health, in its Interim Report to the 77th
Legislature, indicated that disease management is a growing trend in both
public and privately funded health care delivery systems.  The focus of
disease management is on improving quality and containing total cost to
provide a more effective and systematic approach to managing patients with
chronic illnesses.  The Subcommittee on Disease Management, in addressing
the charge of evaluating the role and potential of disease management in
public health programs serving chronically ill populations, recommended
that a disease management pilot study be conducted to study asthma.  More
than one million  Texans suffer from asthma and one-third are children.
Asthma, which is a chronic, potentially fatal disease, appears to be an
ideal target for disease management, as it has the potential through
disease management for cost-effectiveness while improving the quality of
care.  House Bill 342 establishes a children's asthma disease management
pilot study to be conducted in both a rural and urban environment using
techniques that are transferable to private practice.  
RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that rulemaking
authority is expressly delegated to the Texas Department of Health in
SECTION 1 (Section 95.001, Health and Safety Code). 

ANALYSIS

House Bill 342 amends the Health and Safety Code to require the Texas
Department of Health (TDH), by rule, to establish a children's asthma
disease management pilot study to be conducted in both an urban and rural
environment using techniques that are transferable to private practice.
The bill requires TDH to compare preventative disease management methods
with traditional methods.  The pilot study may measure the following
outcomes: school absenteeism, hospitalization, frequency of asthma
symptoms, impact of asthma on the family, and economic effects of asthma.
The bill requires TDH to submit to the legislature an interim report by
November 1, 2002, and a final report by November 1, 2003, containing the
findings and recommendations of the pilot study.  The pilot study expires
September 1, 2005. 

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2001.