87R2994 MWC-D
By: Anchia, Bonnen, Shine H.B. No. 1854
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to insurance coverage for the disposition of embryonic and
fetal tissue remains.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Title 9, Insurance Code, is amended by adding
Chapter 1702 to read as follows:
CHAPTER 1702. CERTAIN COVERAGE REQUIRED FOR DISPOSITION OF
EMBRYONIC AND FETAL TISSUE REMAINS
Sec. 1702.0001. APPLICABILITY. (a) This chapter applies
to any issuer, sponsor, trustee, or third-party administrator of
any insurance policy, annuity or other contract, or group benefit
plan that provides a death benefit payable for the costs of
cremation or burial of a child of a named insured or beneficiary,
including:
(1) an insurance company operating under Chapter 841;
(2) a statewide mutual assessment company operating
under Chapter 881;
(3) a mutual life insurance company operating under
Chapter 882;
(4) a stipulated premium insurance company operating
under Chapter 884;
(5) a fraternal benefit society operating under
Chapter 885;
(6) a local mutual aid association operating under
Chapter 886;
(7) a burial association operating under Chapter 888;
(8) an employer or other group benefit plan sponsor,
regardless of whether the death benefit is provided through an
insurance policy or is self-insured;
(9) a voluntary association that holds a group life
insurance policy under Chapter 1578;
(10) a third-party administrator under Chapter 4151
for group benefits that include a death benefit; and
(11) a trustee of a trust-funded prepaid funeral
benefits contract regulated under Subchapter F, Chapter 154,
Finance Code.
(b) This chapter applies to a health benefit plan that
provides benefits for medical or surgical expenses incurred as a
result of a health condition, accident, or sickness, including an
individual, group, blanket, or franchise insurance policy or
insurance agreement, a group hospital service contract, or an
individual or group evidence of coverage or similar coverage
document that is issued in this state by:
(1) an insurance company;
(2) a group hospital service corporation operating
under Chapter 842;
(3) a health maintenance organization operating under
Chapter 843;
(4) an approved nonprofit health corporation that
holds a certificate of authority under Chapter 844;
(5) a multiple employer welfare arrangement that holds
a certificate of authority under Chapter 846;
(6) a stipulated premium company operating under
Chapter 884;
(7) a fraternal benefit society operating under
Chapter 885;
(8) a Lloyd's plan operating under Chapter 941; or
(9) an exchange operating under Chapter 942.
(c) Notwithstanding any other law, this chapter applies to:
(1) a small employer health benefit plan subject to
Chapter 1501, including coverage provided through a health group
cooperative under Subchapter B of that chapter;
(2) a standard health benefit plan issued under
Chapter 1507;
(3) health benefits provided by or through a church
benefits board under Subchapter I, Chapter 22, Business
Organizations Code;
(4) a regional or local health care program operated
under Section 75.104, Health and Safety Code; and
(5) a self-funded health benefit plan sponsored by a
professional employer organization under Chapter 91, Labor Code.
(d) This chapter does not apply to:
(1) a plan that provides coverage:
(A) for wages or payments in lieu of wages for a
period during which an employee is absent from work because of
sickness or injury;
(B) as a supplement to a liability insurance
policy;
(C) for credit insurance;
(D) only for dental or vision care;
(E) only for hospital expenses; or
(F) only for indemnity for hospital confinement;
(2) a Medicare supplemental policy as defined by
Section 1882(g)(1), Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. Section
1395ss(g)(1));
(3) a workers' compensation insurance policy;
(4) medical payment insurance coverage provided under
a motor vehicle insurance policy; or
(5) a long-term care policy, including a nursing home
fixed indemnity policy, unless the commissioner determines that the
policy provides benefit coverage so comprehensive that the policy
is a health benefit plan as described by Subsection (b) or (c).
Sec. 1702.0002. REQUIRED COVERAGE. (a) An entity to which
this chapter applies must provide a benefit or coverage for the cost
of disposition of embryonic and fetal tissue remains with a
post-fertilization age of 20 weeks or more.
(b) The manner of disposition for which coverage is required
by Subsection (a) includes:
(1) interment;
(2) cremation;
(3) incineration followed by interment; and
(4) steam disinfection followed by interment.
SECTION 2. Chapter 1702, Insurance Code, as added by this
Act, applies only to an insurance policy, evidence of coverage,
annuity or other contract, or group benefit plan that is delivered,
issued for delivery, or renewed on or after January 1, 2022. A
policy, evidence of coverage, annuity or other contract, or group
benefit plan delivered, issued for delivery, or renewed before
January 1, 2022, is governed by the law as it existed immediately
before the effective date of this Act, and that law is continued in
effect for that purpose.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.