Sec. 85.257.  COUNSELING;  COUNSELING PROTOCOLS.  (a)  A service provider shall provide pretesting counseling to an individual who is considering using a home collection kit for HIV infection testing.  This counseling may be provided orally by telephone or through written information included with the home collection kit.
(b)  At the time the test results are reported to the individual tested, the service provider shall provide counseling and appropriate referrals for care and treatment.
(c)  Counseling provided by a service provider, including written information provided under Subsection (a) and referrals, must conform with counseling protocols adopted by the executive commissioner.  Except as provided by Section 85.256, the counseling protocols must be consistent with the requirements of Section 81.109 and the protocols adopted under Section 85.081.
(d)  Counseling provided by a service provider under this section must be provided in English and in Spanish.  The department may require a service provider to provide counseling in another language if the department finds that the service provider is marketing home collection kits in a community in which a significant portion of the population speaks a language other than English or Spanish.
(e)  A service provider, in providing counseling, may not:
(1)  solicit the purchase of additional services or products;  or
(2)  refer the individual being counseled to an entity:
(A)  that is owned or controlled by the service provider;
(B)  that owns or controls the service provider;
(C)  that is owned or controlled by an entity that owns or controls the service provider;  or
(D)  that has another ongoing financial relationship with the service provider.
Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 33, Sec. 1, eff. April 28, 1995.
Amended by: 
Acts 2015, 84th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1 (S.B. 219), Sec. 3.0290, eff. April 2, 2015.