Texas 2021 - 87th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB1037 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	87R6443 MWC-F
2	2	By: Whitmire S.B. No. 1037
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to the definition of emergency care for purposes of
8	8	certain health benefit plans.
9	9	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	SECTION 1. Section 843.002(7), Insurance Code, is amended
11	11	to read as follows:
12	12	(7) "Emergency care" means health care services
13	13	provided in a hospital emergency facility, freestanding emergency
14	14	medical care facility, or comparable emergency facility to evaluate
15	15	and stabilize medical conditions of a recent onset and severity,
16	16	including severe pain, regardless of the final diagnosis of the
17	17	conditions, that would lead a prudent layperson possessing an
18	18	average knowledge of medicine and health to believe that the
19	19	individual's condition, sickness, or injury is of such a nature
20	20	that failure to get immediate medical care could:
21	21	(A) place the individual's health in serious
22	22	jeopardy;
23	23	(B) result in serious impairment to bodily
24	24	functions;
25	25	(C) result in serious dysfunction of a bodily
26	26	organ or part;
27	27	(D) result in serious disfigurement; or
28	28	(E) for a pregnant woman, result in serious
29	29	jeopardy to the health of the fetus.
30	30	SECTION 2. Section 1301.155(a), Insurance Code, is amended
31	31	to read as follows:
32	32	(a) In this section, "emergency care" means health care
33	33	services provided in a hospital emergency facility, freestanding
34	34	emergency medical care facility, or comparable emergency facility
35	35	to evaluate and stabilize a medical condition of a recent onset and
36	36	severity, including severe pain, regardless of the final diagnosis
37	37	of the condition, that would lead a prudent layperson possessing an
38	38	average knowledge of medicine and health to believe that the
39	39	person's condition, sickness, or injury is of such a nature that
40	40	failure to get immediate medical care could result in:
41	41	(1) placing the person's health in serious jeopardy;
42	42	(2) serious impairment to bodily functions;
43	43	(3) serious dysfunction of a bodily organ or part;
44	44	(4) serious disfigurement; or
45	45	(5) in the case of a pregnant woman, serious jeopardy
46	46	to the health of the fetus.
47	47	SECTION 3. Section 4201.002(2), Insurance Code, is amended
48	48	to read as follows:
49	49	(2) "Emergency care" means health care services
50	50	provided in a hospital emergency facility or comparable facility to
51	51	evaluate and stabilize medical conditions of a recent onset and
52	52	severity, including severe pain, regardless of the final diagnosis
53	53	of the conditions, that would lead a prudent layperson possessing
54	54	an average knowledge of medicine and health to believe that the
55	55	individual's condition, sickness, or injury is of such a nature
56	56	that failure to get immediate medical care could:
57	57	(A) place the individual's health in serious
58	58	jeopardy;
59	59	(B) result in serious impairment to bodily
60	60	functions;
61	61	(C) result in serious dysfunction of a bodily
62	62	organ or part;
63	63	(D) result in serious disfigurement; or
64	64	(E) for a pregnant woman, result in serious
65	65	jeopardy to the health of the fetus.
66	66	SECTION 4. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
67	67	a health benefit plan delivered, issued for delivery, or renewed on
68	68	or after January 1, 2022. A health benefit plan delivered, issued
69	69	for delivery, or renewed before January 1, 2022, is governed by the
70	70	law as it existed immediately before the effective date of this Act,
71	71	and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.
72	72	SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.