79R5731 UM-D

By:  Van de Putte                                                 S.B. No. 826



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to mental health services for women with postpartum 
depression.    
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Subchapter B, Chapter 32, Human Resources Code, 
is amended by adding Section 32.0248 to read as follows:
	Sec. 32.0248.  MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES FOR CERTAIN PERSONS 
WITH POSTPARTUM DEPRESSION.  (a)  The department shall, within the 
12-month period following the date on which a woman gives birth, 
provide mental health services, in accordance with rules adopted by 
the executive commissioner of the Health and Human Services 
Commission, to a woman diagnosed with postpartum depression, as 
defined by Section 1366.0565, Insurance Code, who is:
		(1)  eligible for medical assistance under this 
chapter; or          
		(2)  eligible for medical assistance under the federal 
Medicare program.
	(b)  The department shall provide mental health services to a 
woman under Subsection (a) regardless of whether the woman has been 
found to be a danger to herself or others.
	(c)  The department may not place an arbitrary or artificial 
limit on the amount of services that may be provided under 
Subsection (a).
	 SECTION 2.  Subchapter B, Chapter 1366, Insurance Code,  is 
amended by adding Section 1366.0565 to read as follows:
	Sec. 1366.0565.  COVERAGE FOR POSTPARTUM DEPRESSION.  (a)  
In this section, "postpartum depression" means a disorder with 
postpartum onset that is categorized as a mood disorder by the 
American Psychiatric Association in the Diagnostic and Statistical 
Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition, or a subsequent edition 
of that manual that the commissioner by rule adopts to take the 
place of the fourth edition.
	(b)  A health benefit plan that provides maternity benefits, 
including benefits for childbirth, must provide to a woman who has 
given birth to a child coverage for postpartum depression.
	(c)  A health benefit plan may not impose treatment 
limitations or financial requirements, including copayment, 
coinsurance, or deductible requirements, on coverage provided 
under this section that are different from the limitations or 
requirements imposed on coverage for other medical conditions under 
the plan.
	(d)  Subchapter A, Chapter 1355, does not apply to coverage 
provided under this section.
	(e)  Notwithstanding any other law, a standard health 
benefit plan provided under Chapter 1507 or Article 3.80 or 20A.09N 
must provide the coverage required by this section.
	SECTION 3.  Section 1366.0565, Insurance Code,  as added by 
this Act, applies only to a health benefit plan that is delivered, 
issued for delivery, or renewed on or after January 1, 2006. A 
health benefit plan that is delivered, issued for delivery, or 
renewed before January 1, 2006, is governed by the law as it existed 
immediately before the effective date of this Act, and that law is 
continued in effect for that purpose.
	SECTION 4.  If before implementing any provision of this Act 
a state agency determines that a waiver or authorization from a 
federal agency is necessary for implementation of that provision, 
the agency affected by the provision shall request the waiver or 
authorization and may delay implementing that provision until the 
waiver or authorization is granted.
	SECTION 5.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.