Enrolled Bill Summary

            House Bill 1919 requires the lieutenant governor and the speaker of the house to appoint a joint interim committee on health benefit mandates. The act requires the committee to study the effects that mandated health care benefits have had on the availability and affordability of health care coverage and on the improvement and maintenance of the health of the state's residents, the number and percentage of actual or anticipated claims for each mandated benefit, and the feasibility and potential impact of alternatives to mandated benefits. It also requires the committee to develop and submit recommendations to the legislature to assist in the assessment of the costs and benefits of any proposed mandated benefits and requires the Texas Department of Insurance to assist the committee in conducting the study. The committee is required to complete the report not later than January 1, 2001, and the act's provisions expire and the committee is abolished on June 1, 2001.