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Texas Veterans’ Spinal and Orthopedic Rural Access Act

Status: PassedState: TexasIssue: Public Health

Summary

The Texas Veterans’ Spinal and Orthopedic Rural Access Act aims to create a grant program to improve access to specialized spinal and orthopedic care for veterans in rural areas and establish a telehealth network for better service delivery.

Full text

A BILL relating to the creation of a grant program to increase access to specialized spinal and orthopedic care for veterans in rural areas and the establishment of the Texas Veterans Telehealth Network. BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act shall be known and may be cited as the "Texas Veterans’ Spinal and Orthopedic Rural Access Act". SECTION 2. LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS. The Legislature finds that: (1) Texas is home to the second-largest veteran population in the United States, a significant portion of whom reside in rural counties designated as medically underserved. (2) Veterans with service-connected spinal and orthopedic injuries often face excessive travel times to reach federal VA facilities in major metropolitan hubs like San Antonio, Houston, and Dallas. (3) The State of Texas has an obligation to supplement federal healthcare options to ensure that those who served can access specialized care within their own communities. SECTION 3. AMENDMENT. Subtitle A, Title 2, Health and Safety Code, is amended by adding Chapter 1002 to read as follows: CHAPTER 1002. RURAL VETERANS SPECIALIZED CARE INITIATIVE Sec. 1002.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter: (1) "Commission" means the Texas Veterans Commission. (2) "Department" means the Department of State Health Services. (3) "Rural Hospital" means a licensed hospital located in a county with a population of less than 60,000. Sec. 1002.002. SPECIALIST ROTATION GRANT PROGRAM. (a) The Commission, in coordination with the Department, shall establish a grant program to incentivize orthopedic surgeons and spinal specialists to provide rotational clinics in Rural Hospitals. (b) Grants may be awarded to: (1) Private practice specialists who contract to provide services in a Rural Hospital for a minimum of four days per month; or (2) Rural Hospitals to offset the costs of acquiring portable diagnostic imaging equipment specifically for spinal and orthopedic assessment. (c) To be eligible for a grant, a provider must accept TRICARE and Veterans Affairs Community Care Network (CCN) insurance plans. Sec. 1002.003. TEXAS VETERANS TELEHEALTH NETWORK. (a) The Commission shall establish the "Texas Veterans Telehealth Network" (TVTN) to utilize the state’s expanding broadband infrastructure for the benefit of veteran rehabilitation. Sec. 1002.004. SPINAL INJURY NAVIGATORS. The Commission shall employ a dedicated team of "Spinal Injury Navigators" whose sole responsibility is to assist Texas veterans with spinal cord injuries in navigating the pre-authorization process for non-VA community care, ensuring that state funding is used only when federal options are exhausted or delayed beyond 30 days. SECTION 4. APPROPRIATION. The amount of $25,000,000 is appropriated from the General Revenue Fund to the Texas Veterans Commission for the state fiscal biennium ending August 31, 2027, for the purpose of implementing the provisions of this Act. SECTION 5. REPORTING. Not later than December 1 of each even-numbered year, the Texas Veterans Commission shall submit a report to the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives detailing the number of veterans served by the grant program and the reduction in average travel mileage for veterans seeking orthopedic care. SECTION 6. EFFECTIVE DATE. This Act takes effect September 1, 2026.

Legislative Debate

AI Presiding OfficerJan 13, 2026, 1:00 PM(pinned)

Debate opened: Texas Veterans’ Spinal and Orthopedic Rural Access Act

Debate is now open for this bill for 72 hours. - Begins (UTC): 2026-01-13T13:00:00Z - Ends (UTC): 2026-01-16T13:00:00Z Please keep discussion on-topic and substantive. After debate closes, voting will automatically begin.

David ActonJan 13, 2026, 4:08 PM

Mr. President, I think everyone in this chamber can get behind the idea of supporting veterans. The men and women who served our country and defended our freedoms deserve our backing, especially when they’re dealing with service-related health issues, physical or otherwise. That being said, we also want the help we give them to be effective and efficient, providing the maximum amount of support and care without being irresponsible or careless. That is why I am humbling offering an amendment to this bill to strike a mandate to provide funding for so-called “telehealth pods” that I believe, on careful examination, are unnecessary. They seem to me to be a solution in search of a problem, or a solution that came too late to a problem that is rapidly vanishing. Mr. President, we’ve all had medical problems. If you had the choice of discussing them first over the Internet or over the phone before going in to see a doctor, how would you want to do it? Would you want to drive 20 minutes in to a public building, the county courthouse, which is often busy and cramped itself, get into a small soundproof pod they managed to fit into a corner, and then call into your provider’s office? Or would you prefer to do it from home, where you already have privacy? You don’t have to worry about getting there on time. No real likely possibility of eavesdropping or network security breaches on your end. You don’t even have to get out of bed. I think the choice is pretty clear. Some proponents of this might come back with the idea that many veterans do not have Internet access at home. Mr. President, this is somewhat true, and 20 years ago, it was very true. But in the year of our Lord 2026, it is not nearly as big of an issue as it used to be. Even in very rural areas, most folks will still have Internet. It’s just too important to not have today, and after many, many years of building out the infrastructure, Internet service that is reliable enough for a VoIP or even video connection is available at affordable prices pretty much everywhere. Companies like Starlink have also made great strides in providing reliable and strong service to isolated communities. My concern, Mr. President, is that we spend a few million dollars on installing a bunch of these “pods” in public buildings, only for them to never be used. It’s like installing a phone booth in 2026. Sure, someone somewhere for some reason might use it. But almost everyone will choose a better option they have right at home. Our veterans deserve great care and support, Mr. President. They also deserve to not have their tax dollars thrown around without care. I believe the sponsor of this bill has done a great job with putting ideas together here, but I think this one in particular is not necessary. I have offered an amendment to the Legislature to strike it, and I am seeking a second. Thank you. I yield the floor.

Elizabeth HayesJan 14, 2026, 2:14 AM

Mr. President, I appreciate my colleague's concern for the taxpayer's dime, I really do. From my experience in the military, I learned that you don't waste resources, but I also learned that you never cut the gear that keeps you alive just to save a few bucks on the fuel bill. The Senator suggests that in 2026, the digital divide is a myth. He suggests that these pods are "phone booths", relics of a bygone era. With all due respect, I think the Senator needs to spend a little more time looking at the bank accounts of veterans in our districts. Starlink is fantastic technology, but it is also expensive. Its hardware costs hundreds; their monthly subscription is over a hundred dollards. For a veteran on fixed disability income, or a young vet working two hourly jobs to support a family in South Dallas or rural West Texas, that isn't a utility bill, that is a luxury. Are we really going to stand here and say, "If you can't afford high-speed satellite internet, you don't deserve high-speed healthcare"? Because that is effectively what this amendment says. If a veteran needs to talk to a psychiatrist about their PTSD, or a neurologist about the chronic pain that may be ruining their marriage, do they want to do that at the kitchen table with their kids doing homework three feet away? Do they want to do that in a thin-walled apartment where the neighbors hear every single word? These pods are not phone booths, Mr. President. They are clinical outposts. They provide soundproof, secure, medically sterile environments where a veteran can speak freely and with dignity, without worrying if their internet connection is going to drop because they couldn't pay the bill this month. The efficiency my colleague talks about involvers cutting costs arbitrarily. If one of these pods saves a veteran from driving four hours to Dallas, or saves a veteran from skipping an appointment because they didn't have privacy at home, then it has paid for itself ten times over. This amendment doesn't save money; it severs the lifeline this bill is trying to build. I respectully ask this body to reject this amendment. I yield the floor.

AI Presiding OfficerJan 14, 2026, 5:10 PM