---
type: "Bill"
title: "Relating to the authority of certain medical consenters to assume financial responsibility for certain out-of-network medical care provided to children in foster care."
description: "Relating to the authority of certain medical consenters to assume financial responsibility for certain out-of-network medical care provided to children in foster care."
jurisdiction: "us/states/tx"
legislature: "Texas Legislature"
session: "89R"
identifier: "SB 855"
citation: "Texas SB 855 (89R)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["FAMILY & PROTECTIVE SERVICES", "DEPARTMENT OF (V0461)", "FOSTER CARE (S0064)", "Health Care Providers (I0387)", "Health--Children's Insurance (I0388)", "Human Services--Child Services (I0895)", "MANAGED CARE (S0454)", "MEDICAID (S4885)", "Minors--Health & Safety (I0533)"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Frank", "Sparks"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 48
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2025-01-22"
last_action: "2025-05-21"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/c9f32d85-be05-40fd-b849-7682dee6ece6"
source_url: "ftp://ftp.legis.state.tx.us/bills/89R/billhistory/senate_bills/SB00800_SB00899/SB 855.xml"
source_hash: "13f67e22141df790abb9b9cd01da702b6c3c3e531ea82efa3d93311a8b6dd2f3"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-tx"]
---

# Texas SB 855 (89R) — Relating to the authority of certain medical consenters to assume financial responsibility for certain out-of-network medical care provided to children in foster care.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Introduced** (filed) — [source](http://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/89R/billtext/html/SB00855I.HTM)
2. **Engrossed** (committee substitute) — [source](http://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/89R/billtext/html/SB00855E.HTM)
3. **House Committee Report** (committee substitute) — [source](http://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/89R/billtext/html/SB00855H.HTM)
4. **Senate Committee Report** (committee substitute) — [source](http://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/89R/billtext/html/SB00855S.HTM)
5. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](http://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/89R/billtext/html/SB00855F.HTM)

## Votes

- passage — **145–0** (pass) · lower
- passage — **141–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Frank — primary (person)
- Sparks — primary (person)
- Perry — cosponsor (person)
- Shofner — cosponsor (person)
- West — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2025-01-22** Received by the Secretary of the Senate `filing, introduction`
- **2025-01-22** Filed `filing`
- **2025-01-29** Co-author authorized
- **2025-02-13** Read first time `introduction, reading-1`
- **2025-02-13** Referred to Health & Human Services `referral-committee`
- **2025-03-26** Scheduled for public hearing on . . .
- **2025-03-26** Considered in public hearing
- **2025-03-26** Testimony taken in committee
- **2025-03-26** Left pending in committee
- **2025-04-03** Considered in public hearing
- **2025-04-03** Vote taken in committee
- **2025-04-07** Reported favorably as substituted `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2025-04-07** Recommended for local & uncontested calendar
- **2025-04-07** Committee report printed and distributed
- **2025-04-16** Co-author authorized
- **2025-04-16** Placed on local & uncontested calendar
- **2025-04-16** Laid before the Senate `receipt`
- **2025-04-16** Read 2nd time & passed to engrossment `reading-2`
- **2025-04-16** Vote recorded in Journal
- **2025-04-16** Three day rule suspended
- **2025-04-16** Record vote
- **2025-04-16** Read 3rd time `reading-3`
- **2025-04-16** Passed `passage`
- **2025-04-16** Record vote
- **2025-04-16** Reported engrossed
- **2025-04-17** Received from the Senate `introduction`
- **2025-04-22** Read first time `introduction, reading-1`
- **2025-04-22** Referred to Human Services `referral-committee`
- **2025-04-25** Considered in formal meeting
- **2025-04-25** Reported favorably w/o amendment(s) `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2025-04-29** Comte report filed with Committee Coordinator `filing`
- **2025-04-29** Committee report distributed
- **2025-04-29** Committee report sent to Calendars
- **2025-05-07** Laid out in lieu of companion
- **2025-05-07** Read 2nd time `reading-2`
- **2025-05-07** Passed to 3rd reading
- **2025-05-07** Record vote
- **2025-05-07** Statement(s) of vote recorded in Journal
- **2025-05-08** Read 3rd time `reading-3`
- **2025-05-08** Passed `passage`
- **2025-05-08** Record vote
- **2025-05-08** House passage reported `passage`
- **2025-05-08** Reported enrolled `enrolled`
- **2025-05-09** Signed in the Senate `passage`
- **2025-05-09** Signed in the House `passage`
- **2025-05-09** Sent to the Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2025-05-21** Signed by the Governor `executive-signature`
- **2025-05-21** Effective on 9/1/25 `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/c9f32d85-be05-40fd-b849-7682dee6ece6`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Texas legislature records).