By Duncan                                             H.B. No. 2507
                                 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
    1-1                                AN ACT
    1-2  relating to the assignment of health care benefit payments and
    1-3  waiver of deductibles and coinsurance.
    1-4        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
    1-5        SECTION 1.  Article 21.24-1 of the Insurance Code is amended
    1-6  by amending Section 1, Subsection (6), and Section 4, Subsection
    1-7  (c) to read as follows:
    1-8              Sec. 1.  (6)  "Insurer" means an insurance company,
    1-9  association, or organization authorized to do business in this
   1-10  state under Chapter 3, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 18, 19, 20 or 22
   1-11  of this code.
   1-12              Sec. 4.  (c)  The payment of benefits under an
   1-13  assignment does not relieve the covered person of any contractual
   1-14  responsibility for the payment of deductibles and copayments.  <A
   1-15  physician or other health care provider may not waive copayments or
   1-16  deductibles by acceptance of an assignment.>
   1-17        SECTION 2.  Section 161.091 of the Health and Safety Code is
   1-18  amended by adding subsection (h) to read as follows:
   1-19              (h)  This section shall not be construed to prohibit a
   1-20  person or entity licensed, certified, or registered by a health
   1-21  care regulatory agency of this state from waiving health care
   1-22  benefit copayments or deductibles when the person or entity:
   1-23                    (1)  chooses to waive the copayment or deductible
    2-1  in order to ease undue financial hardship upon a patient and to
    2-2  facilitate his or her ability to receive necessary health care;
    2-3              (2)  wishes to extend a professional courtesy to an
    2-4  employee or agent or their dependents, or, in the case of a
    2-5  hospital, to a hospital medical staff member, hospital volunteer or
    2-6  their dependents; or
    2-7              (3)  must accept limited fee payments based upon a
    2-8  contract with a third party payor as payment in full for health
    2-9  care services provided under the terms of the contract.
   2-10        SECTION 3.  This act takes effect September 1, 1993.
   2-11        SECTION 4.  The importance of this legislation and the
   2-12  crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
   2-13  emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
   2-14  constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
   2-15  days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.