1-1 By: Averitt, Kitchen, et al. H.B. No. 471 1-2 (Senate Sponsor - Harris) 1-3 (In the Senate - Received from the House April 27, 2001; 1-4 April 30, 2001, read first time and referred to Committee on 1-5 Business and Commerce; May 7, 2001, reported favorably by the 1-6 following vote: Yeas 5, Nays 0; May 7, 2001, sent to printer.) 1-7 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1-8 AN ACT 1-9 relating to insurance agent commissions paid by small employer 1-10 carriers. 1-11 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: 1-12 SECTION 1. Article 26.73, Insurance Code, is amended by 1-13 adding Subsections (c) and (d) to read as follows: 1-14 (c) A small employer carrier may not implement, directly or 1-15 indirectly, agent commission schedules that vary the level of agent 1-16 commissions based on the size of the group, or otherwise reduce 1-17 access to small employer health benefit plans. 1-18 (d) Notwithstanding Subsection (c) of this article, a small 1-19 employer carrier may: 1-20 (1) vary agent commission amounts or percentages 1-21 based on group size if the variation in the commission amounts or 1-22 percentages are inversely related to the size of the group; 1-23 (2) vary agent commission amounts or percentages based 1-24 on the cumulative premium paid by a single small employer over a 1-25 specific period if the variation in the commission amounts or 1-26 percentages are inversely related to the cumulative premium paid 1-27 during the period; or 1-28 (3) pay agent commissions as a percentage of premium 1-29 charged to a small employer if the commission percentage is based 1-30 on all premium paid by the small employer. 1-31 SECTION 2. Article 26.73, Insurance Code, as amended by this 1-32 Act, applies only to a small employer health benefit plan that is 1-33 delivered or issued for delivery on or after January 1, 2002. A 1-34 health benefit plan delivered or issued for delivery before January 1-35 1, 2002, is governed by the law as it existed immediately before 1-36 the effective date of this Act, and that law is continued in effect 1-37 for that purpose. 1-38 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2001. 1-39 * * * * *