By Chavez                                             H.B. No. 1559
         77R1857 PB-D                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to designation of certain caregivers as life insurance
 1-3     beneficiaries.
 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-5           SECTION 1.  Chapter 113, Acts of the 53rd Legislature,
 1-6     Regular Session, 1953 (Article 3.49-1, Vernon's Texas Insurance
 1-7     Code), is amended by adding Section 4A to read as follows:
 1-8           Sec. 4A.  EXCEPTION: CAREGIVER AS BENEFICIARY. (a)  This
 1-9     section applies only to a beneficiary who:
1-10                 (1)  is designated in a life insurance policy in which
1-11     the insured is an elderly individual as determined under rules
1-12     adopted by the commissioner; and
1-13                 (2)  is a caregiver of the elderly individual who
1-14     provides:
1-15                       (A)  care in a facility licensed under Chapter
1-16     242, 246, 247, 248, or 252, Health and Safety Code, or a facility
1-17     providing similar services without regard to whether the facility
1-18     holds a license; or
1-19                       (B)  bereavement services, home health services,
1-20     hospice services, respite services, or support services, as those
1-21     terms are defined by Section 142.001, Health and Safety Code,
1-22     without regard to whether the caregiver holds a license, if the
1-23     service is provided for pay or other compensation.
1-24           (b)  Notwithstanding Section 1 of this Act, a beneficiary to
 2-1     whom this section applies does not have an enforceable insurable
 2-2     interest and is not entitled to recover the policy proceeds on the
 2-3     death of the insured if the insured was coerced to designate the
 2-4     caregiver as the beneficiary through the exercise of undue
 2-5     influence by the caregiver.
 2-6           SECTION 2.  Chapter 113, Acts of the 53rd Legislature,
 2-7     Regular Session, 1953 (Article 3.49-1, Vernon's Texas Insurance
 2-8     Code), as amended by this Act, applies only to the designation of a
 2-9     beneficiary under a life insurance policy on or after September 1,
2-10     2001. The designation of a beneficiary before September 1, 2001, is
2-11     governed by the law as it existed immediately before the effective
2-12     date of this Act, and that law is continued in effect for that
2-13     purpose.
2-14           SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.