The following information was obtained from the April 1 issue of the Texas Register:
Public Hearing
HHSC will hold a public hearing on April 20, 2011, at 2 p.m., to receive comment on proposed Medicaid payment rates for the Blind Children’s Vocational Discovery and Development Program. The public hearing will be held in the Permian Basin Conference Room of HHSC, Braker Center, Building H, located at 11209 Metric Boulevard, Austin, Texas 78758-4021. See the Texas Register for details.
Proposed Rules
HHSC proposes to repeal §355.701, concerning definitions and general specifications, and §355.702, concerning method of cost determination, in Chapter 355, Subchapter F, Reimbursement Methodology for Programs Serving Persons with Mental Illness and Mental Retardation, which would delete redundant and obsolete rules. For more information, see the Texas Register.
The Texas Medical Board proposes to amend §183.20, Continuing Acupuncture Education, and new §183.24, Procedure, which would “expand the scope of acceptable Continuing Acupuncture Education to include courses approved by the National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine for professional development activity credit and courses that are provided outside of the United States by a provider of continuing acupuncture education that are acceptable to the Board”; provides that procedural rules under Chapter 187 be applied to acupuncturists. See the Texas Register for more information.
On behalf of DADS, HHSC proposes to amend the following sections of the code (click on links to read entire section):
Nursing Facility Requirements For Licensure And Medicaid Certification (§19.805 amended “to revise the permanency planning rule to reflect current practices regarding reporting information about nursing facility residents under 22 years of age”)
State Aging Plan (§80.3 repealed, no longer needed because new section that contains the funding allocation formula for area agencies on aging proposed in this issue)
Operation Of The Area Agencies On Aging (81.17 and §81.21 repealed to remove certain agency on aging rules)
State Delivery Systems (§82.39 repealed for new section that “contains the guidelines to determine the proportion of state money distributed to entities that operate a program under the National Senior Services Corps proposed in this issue”)
Area Agency On Aging Administrative Requirements (§83.15, §83.17 repealed “because a new section that describes how award funds not spent by an area agency on aging are handled and a new section that describes the process for a AAA to request approval to directly provide a service proposed in this issue”)
Implementation Of The Older Americans Act (Chapter 85 changed to rewrite and update rules to be consistent with agency practice, update, and clarify)
National Senior Services Corps Program (Changes to §86.1 “describe the guidelines used to determine the proportion of state money distributed to entities operating a program under the National Senior Services Corps”)
Licensing Standards For Home And Community Support Services Agencies Agency Administration (97.256 and §97.602 changed to comply with evacuation and disaster preparedness rules)
Adult Day Care And Day Activity And Health Services Requirements (Amended 98.42 and new §98.64 related to disaster preparedness)
Miscellaneous (§100.22 repealed “to allow DADS the flexibility to develop procedures based on communication technology and other factors at the time a hearing is held”)
Adopted Rules
HHSC adopted new §371.216, concerning waiver of extrapolation procedural questions that arise from the conversion from the Texas Index for Level of Effort classification system and provider payment methodology to the federal Resource Utilization Group classification system and provider payment methodology. See the Texas Register for details.
The Texas Medical Board adopted amendments to §185.3, Meetings and Committees, which provide that committee minutes are to be approved by the full board rather than by committee as required under Robert’s Rules of Order.
The Texas Board of Nursing adopted amendments to §217.4, Requirements for Initial Licensure by Examination for Nurses Who Graduate from Nursing Education Programs Outside of United States’ Jurisdiction, which are necessary to specify an exception to the Board’s licensure requirements for qualified international nurse applicants. An excerpt:
Existing §217.4 requires international nurse applicants for initial licensure by examination to achieve an approved score on an English proficiency test acceptable to the Board. This requirement is designed to ensure that non-native English speaking international nurse applicants possess the requisite reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills necessary to competently and safely practice nursing in this state. Although it has been the Board’s long-standing practice to routinely exempt international nurse applicants from this requirement if the applicant could show that he/she completed a nursing program of study that was substantially conducted in the English language, the existing rule does not reflect this exception. The Board considered the proposed amendments to §217.4 at its January 2011, meeting, and voted to formalize its historical practice in rule.
