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Amend HB 2678 by inserting the following appropriately
numbered SECTION and renumbering SECTIONS of the bill
appropriately:
SECTION __. Article 5.15-1, Insurance Code, is amended by
adding Section 13 to read as follows:
Sec. 13. USE IN UNDERWRITING OF CERTAIN INFORMATION RELATED
TO LAWSUITS; REFUND. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of
this code, an insurer may not consider for the purpose of setting
premiums for a particular physician's or health care provider's
professional liability insurance a lawsuit filed against the
physician or provider if:
(1) the lawsuit was dismissed by the claimant or
nonsuited; and
(2) no payment was made to the claimant under a
settlement agreement.
(b) An insurer that, in setting premiums for a physician's
or health care provider's professional liability insurance,
considers a lawsuit filed against the physician or provider shall
refund to the physician or provider any increase in premiums paid by
the physician or provider that is attributable to that lawsuit if
the lawsuit is dismissed by the claimant or nonsuited without
payment to the claimant under a settlement agreement. The insurer
shall issue the refund on or before the 30th day after the date the
insurer receives written evidence that the lawsuit was dismissed or
nonsuited without payment to the claimant under a settlement
agreement.
(c) This section does not prohibit an insurer from
considering and using aggregate historical loss and expense
experience applicable generally to a classification of physicians'
or health care providers' professional liability insurance to set
rates for that classification to the extent authorized by Article
5.13-2 of this code. Notwithstanding Section 4(c), Article 5.13-2,
of this code, an insurer may not assign a physician or health care
provider to a particular classification based on a factor described
by Subsection (a) of this section.