Subscribe to receive our Floor Reports covering all the action on the Texas House and Senate floor!
No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.
HB 2351 would add a new section to Chapter 166 (Advance
Directives) of the Health and Safety Code. This new section would require each
healthcare facility with a committee that reviews treatment decisions of an
advance directive to adopt two new policies concerning the operation of that
review committee:
Firstly, the healthcare facility must add a policy that
would prevent any financial or healthcare conflicts of interest during a
committee review of an advance directive.
Secondly, the healthcare facility must add a policy that
would prohibit the committee from considering a patient’s permanent mental or
physical disability during a review. However, the policy may include that the
committee may consider the patient’s mental or physical disability if it is
relevant in determining whether medical intervention is necessary.
An advance directive is a directive made by a patient, or a
person who holds power of attorney over a patient, to instruct a physician to
administer, withhold, or withdraw life-sustaining treatment in the event of a
terminal or irreversible condition.
If a physician refuses to honor a patient’s advance directive
or healthcare treatment an ethics or medical committee at that healthcare facility
may review that physician’s decision. This
legislation would require a healthcare facility to add two new policies to the
rules that govern an ethics or a medical committee.
We are neutral on HB 2351. While we support the provision
that would prevent conflicts of interests, we are neutral on the prohibition of
considering a patient’s disability during a review. The latter policy would
fall under a gray area involving social issues to an extent. For this reason,
we do not comment on areas concerning such matters.