H.B. No. 1998

	AN ACT
	relating to the regulation of physicians, the disciplinary
	authority of the Texas Medical Board, and the administration of the
	Texas Physician Health Program; increasing a criminal penalty;
	imposing a surcharge.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1.  Section 153.051(d), Occupations Code, is amended
	to read as follows:
	(d)  The board may not set, charge, collect, receive, or
	deposit any of the following fees in excess of:
	(1)  $900 for a license;
	(2)  $400 for a first registration permit;
	(3)  $200 for a temporary license;
	(4)  $400 for renewal of a registration permit;
	(5)  $200 for a physician-in-training permit;
	(6)  $600 for the processing of an application and the
	issuance of a registration for anesthesia in an outpatient setting;
	(7)  $200 for an endorsement to other state medical
	boards;
	(8)  $200 for a duplicate license;
	(9)  $700 for a reinstated license after cancellation
	for cause; or
	(10)  $15 [$1,200] for a surcharge [an annual fee]
	under Section 153.053 to administer [167.011(c) for a program
	participant in] the Texas Physician Health Program, due at the time
	of license issuance and registration permit renewal.
	SECTION 2.  Subchapter B, Chapter 153, Occupations Code, is
	amended by adding Section 153.053 to read as follows:
	Sec. 153.053.  SURCHARGE TO ADMINISTER TEXAS PHYSICIAN
	HEALTH PROGRAM. (a)  The board shall collect an additional
	surcharge not to exceed $15 for each of the following fees:
	(1)  first registration permit; and
	(2)  renewal of a registration permit.
	(b)  The board shall deposit each surcharge collected under
	this section to the credit of the Texas physician health program
	account. The Texas physician health program account is a special
	account in the general revenue fund. Money in the special account
	shall be appropriated only to the board to pay for administration of
	the Texas Physician Health Program under Chapter 167, including
	paying for an initial evaluation by the program's medical director
	or the director's designee. Money in the special account may not be
	used to pay for program participant costs incurred for monitoring
	or for a program participant's own medical costs, including any
	further required evaluations, primary treatment, or continuing
	care.
	SECTION 3.  Subchapter B, Chapter 153, Occupations Code, is
	amended by adding Section 153.055 to read as follows:
	Sec. 153.055.  SURCHARGE FOR CERTAIN SEARCHES RELATED TO
	LICENSE STATUS. (a)  The board shall set and collect an additional
	surcharge to cover the cost of administering a continuous query on
	the National Practitioner Data Bank as required by Section
	154.006(m).  The surcharge shall be collected from each license
	holder for:
	(1)  issuance of a first registration permit; and
	(2)  renewal of a registration permit.
	(b)  The board shall deposit each surcharge collected under
	this section to the credit of the public assurance account
	described by Section 153.0535(b).
	SECTION 4.  Section 154.006, Occupations Code, is amended by
	adding Subsections (m) and (n) to read as follows:
	(m)  The board shall run a continuous query on the National
	Practitioner Data Bank and, not later than the 10th working day
	after the date any new information is found, update a physician's
	profile to:
	(1)  include any new report or correction to a report of
	disciplinary action against the physician; and
	(2)  remove any report of disciplinary action against
	the physician that has been dismissed or otherwise voided.
	(n)  Information included in a physician's profile under
	Subsection (m) may not include any patient identifying information
	or information that may reasonably be used to identify any person or
	entity other than the physician.
	SECTION 5.  Section 154.056(e), Occupations Code, is amended
	to read as follows:
	(e)  The board by rule shall provide for an expert physician
	panel appointed by the board to assist with complaints and
	investigations relating to medical competency by acting as expert
	physician reviewers. Each member of the expert physician panel must
	be licensed to practice medicine in a member [this] state, as
	defined by Section 171.002. The rules adopted under this subsection
	must include provisions governing the composition of the panel,
	qualifications for membership on the panel, length of time a member
	may serve on the panel, grounds for removal from the panel, the
	avoidance of conflicts of interest, including situations in which
	the affected physician and the panel member live or work in the same
	geographical area or are competitors, and the duties to be
	performed by the panel. The board's rules governing grounds for
	removal from the panel must include providing for the removal of a
	panel member who is repeatedly delinquent in reviewing complaints
	and in submitting reports to the board. The board's rules governing
	appointment of expert physician panel members to act as expert
	physician reviewers must include a requirement that the board
	randomly select, to the extent permitted by Section 154.058(b) and
	the conflict of interest provisions adopted under this subsection,
	panel members to review a complaint who are:
	(1)  licensed to practice medicine in this state; or
	(2)  licensed to practice medicine in a member state,
	as defined by Section 171.002, if there are no panel members
	licensed to practice medicine in this state available to review the
	complaint in a timely manner.
	SECTION 6.  Section 155.003(e), Occupations Code, is amended
	to read as follows:
	(e)  An applicant is not eligible for a license if:
	(1)  the applicant holds a medical license that is
	currently restricted for cause, canceled for cause, or suspended
	for cause[, or revoked] by a state, a province of Canada, or a
	uniformed service of the United States;
	(2)  an investigation or a proceeding is instituted
	against the applicant for the restriction, cancellation,
	suspension, or revocation in a state, a province of Canada, or a
	uniformed service of the United States; [or]
	(3)  a prosecution is pending against the applicant in
	any state, federal, or Canadian court for any offense that under the
	laws of this state is a felony or a misdemeanor that involves moral
	turpitude; or
	(4)  the applicant held a license to practice medicine
	that has been revoked by the licensing authority in another state or
	a province of Canada for a reason that would be grounds for the
	board to revoke a license to practice medicine in this state.
	SECTION 7.  Section 155.008(a), Occupations Code, is amended
	to read as follows:
	(a)  The board shall [may] submit to the Department of Public
	Safety a complete set of fingerprints of each license applicant,
	and the department shall classify and check the fingerprints
	against those in the department's fingerprint records. The
	department shall certify to the board its findings regarding the
	criminal record of the applicant or the applicant's lack of a
	criminal record.
	SECTION 8.  Subchapter A, Chapter 156, Occupations Code, is
	amended by adding Section 156.0015 to read as follows:
	Sec. 156.0015.  CRIMINAL RECORD CHECK. (a) In addition to
	the information required by Section 156.001, a license holder
	shall submit to the board with the registration permit renewal
	application a complete set of fingerprints. The board shall submit
	to the Department of Public Safety each set of fingerprints
	received under this section for the purpose of completing the
	criminal record check described by Section 155.008.
	(b)  The board may suspend or refuse to renew the
	registration of a license holder who fails to submit a complete set
	of fingerprints under this section.
	(c)  This section does not apply to a license holder who
	previously submitted a complete set of fingerprints:
	(1)  as part of an application for a license; or
	(2)  as part of a previous application to renew a
	registration permit under this section.
	SECTION 9.  Section 160.002(a), Occupations Code, is amended
	to read as follows:
	(a)  A medical peer review committee or health care entity
	shall report in writing to the board the results and circumstances
	of a medical peer review that:
	(1)  adversely affects the clinical privileges of a
	physician for a period longer than 14 [30] days;
	(2)  accepts a physician's surrender of clinical
	privileges either:
	(A)  while the physician is under an investigation
	by the medical peer review committee relating to possible
	incompetence or improper professional conduct; or
	(B)  in return for not conducting an investigation
	or proceeding relating to possible incompetence or improper
	professional conduct; or
	(3)  adversely affects the membership of a physician in
	a professional society or association, if the medical peer review
	is conducted by that society or association.
	SECTION 10.  Section 164.051, Occupations Code, is amended
	by amending Subsections (a) and (d) and adding Subsection (e) to
	read as follows:
	(a)  The board may refuse to admit a person to its
	examination or refuse to issue a license to practice medicine and
	may take disciplinary action against a person if the person:
	(1)  commits an act prohibited under Section 164.052;
	(2)  is convicted of, or is placed on deferred
	adjudication community supervision or deferred disposition for:
	(A)  a felony; or
	(B)  a misdemeanor involving moral turpitude;
	(3)  commits or attempts to commit a direct or indirect
	violation of a rule adopted under this subtitle, either as a
	principal, accessory, or accomplice;
	(4)  is unable to practice medicine with reasonable
	skill and safety to patients because of:
	(A)  illness;
	(B)  drunkenness;
	(C)  excessive use of drugs, narcotics,
	chemicals, or another substance; or
	(D)  a mental or physical condition;
	(5)  is found by a court judgment to be of unsound mind;
	(6)  fails to practice medicine in an acceptable
	professional manner consistent with public health and welfare;
	(7)  is removed, suspended, or is subject to
	disciplinary action taken by the person's peers in a local,
	regional, state, or national professional medical association or
	society, or is disciplined by a licensed hospital or medical staff
	of a hospital, including removal, suspension, limitation of
	hospital privileges, or other disciplinary action, if the board
	finds that the action:
	(A)  was based on unprofessional conduct or
	professional incompetence that was likely to harm the public; and
	(B)  was appropriate and reasonably supported by
	evidence submitted to the board;
	(8)  is subject to repeated or recurring meritorious
	health care liability claims that in the board's opinion evidence
	professional incompetence likely to injure the public; or
	(9)  except as provided by Subsections [Subsection] (d)
	and (e), holds a license to practice medicine subject to
	disciplinary action by another state, or subject to disciplinary
	action by the uniformed services of the United States, based on acts
	by the person that are prohibited under Section 164.052 or are
	similar to acts described by this subsection.
	(d)  The board shall refuse to issue a license under this
	subtitle if the applicant held a license to practice medicine in
	another state that has been revoked by the licensing authority in
	that state for a reason that would be grounds for the board to
	revoke a license to practice medicine in this state.
	(e)  The board shall revoke a license issued under this
	subtitle if the license holder, while holding the license under
	this subtitle, held a license to practice medicine in another state
	that has been revoked by the licensing authority in that state for a
	reason that would be grounds for the board to revoke a license to
	practice medicine in this state.
	SECTION 11.  Section 164.0595(a), Occupations Code, is
	amended to read as follows:
	(a)  A disciplinary panel appointed under Section 164.059
	may suspend or restrict the license of a person arrested for an
	offense under:
	(1)  Chapter 19 [Section 22.011(a)(2)], Penal Code
	(criminal homicide) [(sexual assault of a child)];
	(2)  Chapter 20A [Section 22.021(a)(1)(B)], Penal Code
	(trafficking of persons) [(aggravated sexual assault of a child)];
	or
	(3)  Chapter 21 or 22 [Section 21.02], Penal Code
	(sexual or assaultive offenses), if the offense is:
	(A)  sexual, lewd, or indecent in nature;
	(B)  not a misdemeanor punishable by fine only;
	and
	(C)  committed against:
	(i)  a patient of the license holder;
	(ii)  a child;
	(iii)  an elderly individual [(continuous
	sexual abuse of young child or disabled individual)]; or
	(iv)  an individual with a disability [(4)
	Section 21.11, Penal Code (indecency with a child)].
	SECTION 12.  Section 165.154, Occupations Code, is amended
	to read as follows:
	Sec. 165.154.  FALSE STATEMENT [TAMPERING WITH GOVERNMENTAL
	RECORD]; OFFENSE [PERJURY OFFENSES].  (a)  A person commits an
	offense if the person knowingly makes a false statement:
	(1)  in the person's application for a license; or
	(2)  under oath to obtain a license or to secure the
	registration of a license to practice medicine.
	(b)  An offense under this section is a Class A misdemeanor
	unless the actor's intent is to defraud or harm another, in which
	event the offense is a state jail felony [:
	[(1)  constitutes tampering with a governmental record
	or perjury as provided by the Penal Code; and
	[(2)  shall be punished on conviction as provided by
	that code].
	SECTION 13.  Section 167.011, Occupations Code, is repealed.
	SECTION 14.  Section 153.051, Occupations Code, as amended
	by this Act, and Section 153.053, Occupations Code, as added by this
	Act, apply to the initial issuance of a license or the renewal of a
	registration permit under Subtitle B, Title 3, Occupations Code, on
	or after September 1, 2023.  A license initially issued or
	registration permit renewed before September 1, 2023, is governed
	by the law in effect immediately before the effective date of this
	Act, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
	SECTION 15.  Section 156.0015, Occupations Code, as added by
	this Act, applies only to an application to renew a registration
	submitted on or after the effective date of this Act. An
	application submitted before the effective date of this Act is
	governed by the law in effect on the date the application was
	submitted, and the former law is continued in effect for that
	purpose.
	SECTION 16.  Section 165.154, Occupations Code, as amended
	by this Act, applies only to an offense committed on or after the
	effective date of this Act.  An offense committed before the
	effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the
	date the offense was committed, and the former law is continued in
	effect for that purpose.  For purposes of this section, an offense
	was committed before the effective date of this Act if any element
	of the offense occurred before that date.
	SECTION 17.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.
	______________________________	______________________________
	President of the Senate	Speaker of the House
	I certify that H.B. No. 1998 was passed by the House on May
	12, 2023, by the following vote:  Yeas 124, Nays 13, 2 present, not
	voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.
	No. 1998 on May 26, 2023, by the following vote:  Yeas 120, Nays 16,
	1 present, not voting.
	______________________________
	Chief Clerk of the House
	I certify that H.B. No. 1998 was passed by the Senate, with
	amendments, on May 24, 2023, by the following vote:  Yeas 30, Nays
	1.
	______________________________
	Secretary of the Senate
	APPROVED: __________________
	Date
	__________________
	Governor