89R1826 RDS-D
By: Cortez H.B. No. 335
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the payments and reimbursements for noncontracting and
contracting provider dentists under certain health benefit plans.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 1451.206(a), Insurance Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) The employee benefit plan or health insurance policy
shall:
(1) provide:
(A) [that payment or reimbursement for a
noncontracting provider dentist shall be the same as payment or
reimbursement for a contracting provider dentist;
[(B)] that the party to or beneficiary of the
plan or policy may assign the right to payment or reimbursement to
the dentist who provides the dental care services; and
(B) [(C)] one or more methods of payment or
reimbursement that provide the dentist 100 percent of the
contracted amount of the payment or reimbursement and that do not
require the dentist to incur a fee to access the payment or
reimbursement; and
(2) disclose on the Internet website required under
Section 1451.205 and on request of a dentist or a party to or
beneficiary of the plan or policy the fees, if any, associated with
the methods of payment or reimbursement available under the plan or
policy.
SECTION 2. Section 1451.206, Insurance Code, as amended by
this Act, applies only to a health benefit plan delivered, issued
for delivery, or renewed on or after January 1, 2026. A plan
delivered, issued for delivery, or renewed before January 1, 2026,
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, 2025.