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78R8674 T

By:  Smithee                                                      H.B. No. 2233



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the applicability of the Health Insurance Portability 
and Availability Act.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Art. 26.02(9), Insurance Code, is amended to 
read as follows:    
		(9)  "Eligible employee" means an employee who works on 
a full-time  basis and who usually works at least 30 hours a week.  
The term also  includes a sole proprietor, a partner, an assigned 
employee of a staff leasing services company licensed pursuant to 
Chapter 91, Occupations Code, and an independent  contractor, if 
the sole proprietor, partner, assigned employee of a staff leasing 
services company, or independent  contractor is included as an 
employee under a health benefit plan of  a small or large employer.  
The term does not include:
			(A)  an employee who works on a part-time, 
temporary, seasonal, or  substitute basis; or
			(B)  an employee who is covered under:                                       
				(i)  another health benefit plan;                                           
				(ii)  a self-funded or self-insured employee 
welfare benefit plan  that provides health benefits and that is 
established in accordance  with the Employee Retirement Income 
Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. Section 1001 et seq.);
				(iii)  the Medicaid program if the employee 
elects not to be covered;     
				(iv)  another federal program, including the 
CHAMPUS program or  Medicare program, if the employee elects not to 
be covered; or
				(v)  a benefit plan established in another 
country if the employee  elects not to be covered.
	SECTION 2.  Art. 26.02(15), Insurance Code, is amended to 
read as follows:   
		(15)  "Large employer" means an employer who employed 
an average of  at least 51 eligible employees on business days 
during the  preceding calendar year and who employs at least two 
employees on  the first day of the plan year.  For purposes of this 
definition, a  partnership is the employer of a partner.  A large 
employer includes  a governmental entity subject to Section 1, 
Chapter 123, Acts of the  60th Legislature, Regular Session, 1967 
(Article 3.51-3, Vernon's  Texas Insurance Code), or Article 
3.51-1, 3.51-2, 3.51-4, 3.51-5,  or 3.51-5A of this code that 
otherwise meets the requirements of  this section[.], and a client 
company of a staff leasing services company, as those terms are 
defined in Chapter 91, Occupations Code.
	SECTION 3.  Art. 26.02(29), Insurance Code, as amended by 
Chapters 608 and 823, Acts of the 77th Legislature, Regular 
Session, 2001, is amended to read as follows:
		(30) [(29)]  "Small employer" means an employer who 
employed an average of  at least two employees but not more than 50 
eligible employees on business days during the preceding calendar 
year and who employs at least two employees on the first day of the 
plan year.  For purposes of this definition, a partnership is the 
employer of a partner.  A small employer includes a governmental 
entity subject to Section 1, Chapter 123, Acts of the 60th 
Legislature, Regular Session, 1967 (Article 3.51-3, Vernon's Texas 
Insurance Code), or Article 3.51-1,  3.51-2, 3.51-4, 3.51-5, or 
3.51-5A of this code that otherwise  meets the requirements of this 
section[.], and a client company of a staff leasing services 
company, as those terms are defined in Chapter 91, Occupations 
Code.
	SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2003.