By: Cook (Senate Sponsor - Nichols) H.B. No. 755
(In the Senate - Received from the House April 7, 2011;
April 20, 2011, read first time and referred to Committee on State
Affairs; May 6, 2011, reported favorably by the following vote:
Yeas 9, Nays 0; May 6, 2011, sent to printer.)
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to eligibility of certain dependents for coverage under
the state employee group benefits program.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 1551.004(a), Insurance Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) In this chapter, "dependent" with respect to an
individual eligible to participate in the group benefits program
under Section 1551.101 or 1551.102 means the individual's:
(1) spouse;
(2) unmarried child younger than 25 years of age;
(3) child of any age who the board of trustees
determines lives with or has the child's care provided by the
individual on a regular basis if:
(A) the child is mentally retarded or physically
incapacitated to the extent that the child is dependent on the
individual for care or support, as determined by the board of
trustees;
(B) the child's coverage under this chapter has
not lapsed; and
(C) the child is at least 25 years old and:
(i) was enrolled as a participant in the
health benefits coverage under the group benefits program on the
date of the child's 25th birthday; or
(ii) on the date the individual became
eligible to participate in the group benefits program, was enrolled
as the individual's dependent in health benefits coverage under
Chapter 1575, 1579, or 1601 or in continuation of that dependent
coverage under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act
of 1985 (Pub. L. No. 99-272) and its subsequent amendments;
(4) child of any age who is unmarried, for purposes of
health benefit coverage under this chapter, on expiration of the
child's continuation coverage under the Consolidated Omnibus
Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 (Pub. L. No. 99-272) and its
subsequent amendments; and
(5) ward, as that term is defined by Section 601, Texas
Probate Code.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.
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