Highlights 77th Texas Legislature - Senate

___ HEALTH AND HUMAN
ERVICES/Regulatory
UMAN SERVICES
77 th Texas Legislature
• obtains a written statement from the resident that the resident wishes to remain in the facility or
from a family member of the resident stating that the family member wishes the resident to remain
in the facility if the resident lacks capacity to give the statement;
• states in writing that the facility wishes for the resident to remain in the facility; and
• applies for and obtains a waiver from DHS of all applicable requirements for evacuation that the
facility does not meet with respect to the resident, if the facility does not meet all of the
requirements.
Establishes the assisted living facility trust fund with the comptroller of public accounts and requires it to be
made available to DHS for expenditures without legislative appropriation to make emergency assistance
funds available to a facility.
Authorizes a trustee of a facility to use emergency assistance funds only to alleviate an immediate threat to
the health or safety of the residents and specifies authorized uses of such funds.
Requires any unencumbered amount in the fund in excess of $500,000 at the end of each fiscal year to be
transferred to the credit of the general revenue fund to be appropriated only to DHS for use in enforcing the
Assisted Living Facility Licensing Act
Requires DHS to adopt an annual fee to be charged to a facility if the fund is less than $500,000. DHS is
authorized to charge and collect the fee more than once a year only if necessary to ensure that the amount
in the fund is sufficient to make required disbursements.
Dental Enteral Administration of Anesthesia - S.B. 539
by Senator Carona
House Sponsor: Representative Gray
Requires the Texas State Board of Dental Examiners (board) to establish standards for the enteral
administration of anesthesia by a dentist.
Authorizes the board to conduct inspections to enforce the provisions of this bill, including inspections of an
office site and documents of a dentist's practice that relate to the enteral administration of anesthesia.
Authorizes the board to contract with another state agency or qualified person to conduct the inspections.
Providing a Lien for Emergency Hospital Care Services by Physicians - S.B. 583
by Senator Duncan
House Sponsor: Representative Janek
Expands the existing lien for the amount of a hospital’s charges for services during the first 100 days of an
injured individual's hospitalization to include the amount of a physician's reasonable and necessary charges
for emergency hospital care services provided during the first seven days of the injured individual's
Senate Research Center 155