S.B. No. 1028

AN ACT

relating to health benefit plan coverage for colorectal cancer early detection.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 1363.001, Insurance Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 1363.001. APPLICABILITY OF CHAPTER. This chapter applies only to a health benefit plan, including a small employer health benefit plan written under Chapter 1501 or coverage that is provided by a health group cooperative under Subchapter B of that chapter, that:

(1) provides benefits for medical or surgical expenses incurred as a result of a health condition, accident, or sickness, including:

(A) an individual, group, blanket, or franchise insurance policy or insurance agreement, a group hospital service contract, or an individual or group evidence of coverage that is offered by:

(i) an insurance company;

(ii) a group hospital service corporation operating under Chapter 842;

(iii) a fraternal benefit society operating under Chapter 885;

(iv) a Lloyd's plan operating under Chapter 941;

(v) a stipulated premium company operating under Chapter 884; [or]

(vi) a health maintenance organization operating under Chapter 843; or

(vii) a reciprocal or interinsurance exchange operating under Chapter 942; and

(B) to the extent permitted by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. Section 1001 et seq.), a health benefit plan that is offered by:

(i) a multiple employer welfare arrangement as defined by Section 3 of that Act; or

(ii) another analogous benefit arrangement;

(2) is offered by an approved nonprofit health corporation operating under Chapter 844; or

(3) provides health and accident coverage through a risk pool created under Chapter 172, Local Government Code, notwithstanding Section 172.014, Local Government Code, or any other law.

SECTION 2. Section 1363.002, Insurance Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 1363.002. EXCEPTION. This chapter does not apply to:

(1) a plan that provides coverage:

(A) only for a specified disease or other limited benefit;

(B) only for accidental death or dismemberment;

(C) for wages or payments in lieu of wages for a period during which an employee is absent from work because of sickness or injury;

(D) as a supplement to a liability insurance policy; [or]

(E) only for indemnity for hospital confinement; or

(F) only for dental or vision care;

(2) [a small employer health benefit plan written under Chapter 1501;

[(3)] a Medicare supplemental policy as defined by Section 1882(g)(1), Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. Section 1395ss), as amended;

(3) a credit-only insurance policy;

(4) a workers' compensation insurance policy;

(5) medical payment insurance coverage provided under a motor vehicle insurance policy; [or]

(6) a limited benefit policy that does not provide coverage for physical examinations or wellness exams;

(7) a multiple employer welfare arrangement that holds a certificate of authority under Chapter 846; or

(8) [(6)] 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 Section 1363.001.

SECTION 3. Section 1363.003, Insurance Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 1363.003. MINIMUM COVERAGE REQUIRED. (a) A health benefit plan that provides coverage for screening medical procedures must provide to each individual enrolled in the plan who is 45 [50] years of age or older and at normal risk for developing colon cancer coverage for expenses incurred in conducting a medically recognized screening examination for the detection of colorectal cancer.

(b) The minimum coverage required under this section must include:

(1) all colorectal cancer examinations, preventive services, and laboratory tests assigned a grade of "A" or "B" by the United States Preventive Services Task Force for average-risk individuals, including the services that may be assigned a grade of "A" or "B" in the future [a fecal occult blood test performed annually and a flexible sigmoidoscopy performed every five years]; and [or]

(2) an initial colonoscopy or other medical test or procedure for colorectal cancer screening and a follow-up colonoscopy if the results of the initial colonoscopy, test, or procedure are abnormal [a colonoscopy performed every 10 years].

(c) For an enrollee in a managed care plan as defined by Section 1451.151, the plan may impose a cost-sharing requirement for coverage described by this section only if the enrollee obtains the covered benefit or service outside the plan's network.

SECTION 4. The change in law made by this Act applies only to a health benefit plan that is delivered, issued for delivery, or renewed on or after January 1, 2022. A health benefit plan that is 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 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.

______________________________ ______________________________

President of the Senate Speaker of the House

I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1028 passed the Senate on April 23, 2021, by the following vote: Yeas 30, Nays 1.

______________________________ Secretary of the Senate

I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1028 passed the House on May 18, 2021, by the following vote: Yeas 121, Nays 16, two present not voting.

______________________________ Chief Clerk of the House

Approved:

______________________________

Date

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Governor