By: Lopez H.B. No. 843
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to health benefit plan coverage for early childhood
  intervention services.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  The heading to Subchapter E, Chapter 1367,
  Insurance Code, is amended to read as follows:
  SUBCHAPTER E. EARLY CHILDHOOD INTERVENTION SERVICES AND
  DEVELOPMENTAL DELAYS
         SECTION 2.  Section 1367.201, Insurance Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         Sec. 1367.201.  DEFINITION.  In this subchapter,
  rehabilitative and habilitative therapies include:
               (1)  occupational therapy evaluations and services;
               (2)  physical therapy evaluations and services;
               (3)  speech therapy evaluations and services; [and]
               (4)  dietary or nutritional evaluations;
               (5)  specialized skills training by a person certified
  as an early intervention specialist;
               (6)  applied behavior analysis treatment by a licensed
  behavior analyst or licensed psychologist; and
               (7)  case management provided by a licensed
  practitioner of the healing arts or a person certified as an early
  intervention specialist.
         SECTION 3.  Section 1367.202, Insurance Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         Sec. 1367.202.  APPLICABILITY OF SUBCHAPTER.  (a) This
  subchapter applies only to a health benefit plan that:
               (1)  provides benefits for medical or surgical expenses
  incurred as a result of a health condition, accident, or sickness,
  including an individual, group, blanket, or franchise insurance
  policy or insurance agreement, a group hospital service contract,
  or an individual or group evidence of coverage that is offered by:
                     (A)  an insurance company;
                     (B)  a group hospital service corporation
  operating under Chapter 842;
                     (C)  a fraternal benefit society operating under
  Chapter 885;
                     (D)  a stipulated premium company operating under
  Chapter 884;
                     (E)  a health maintenance organization operating
  under Chapter 843; or
                     (F)  a multiple employer welfare arrangement
  subject to regulation under Chapter 846;
               (2)  is offered by an approved nonprofit health
  corporation that holds a certificate of authority under Chapter
  844; or
               (3)  provides health and accident coverage through a
  risk pool created under Chapter 172, Local Government Code,
  notwithstanding Section 172.014, Local Government Code, or any
  other law.
         (b)  Notwithstanding any other law, this subchapter also
  applies to a standard health benefit plan provided under Chapter
  1507.
         SECTION 4.  Section 1367.203, Insurance Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         Sec. 1367.203.  EXCEPTION.  (a) This subchapter does not
  apply to:
               (1)  a plan that provides coverage:
                     (A)  only for a specified disease or for another
  limited benefit;
                     (B)  only for accidental death or dismemberment;
                     (C)  for wages or payments in lieu of wages for a
  period during which an employee is absent from work because of
  sickness or injury;
                     (D)  as a supplement to a liability insurance
  policy;
                     (E)  for credit insurance;
                     (F)  only for dental or vision care; or
                     (G)  only for indemnity for hospital confinement;
               (2)  a small employer health benefit plan written under
  Chapter 1501;
               (3)  a Medicare supplemental policy as defined by
  Section 1882(g)(1), Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. Section 1395ss);
               (4)  a workers' compensation insurance policy;
               (5)  medical payment insurance coverage provided under
  a motor vehicle insurance policy; or
               (6)  a long-term care insurance policy, including a
  nursing home fixed indemnity policy, unless the commissioner
  determines that the policy provides benefit coverage so
  comprehensive that the policy is a health benefit plan as described
  by Section 1367.202.
         (b)  This subchapter does not apply to a qualified health
  plan to the extent that a determination is made under 45 C.F.R.
  Section 155.170 that:
               (1)  this subchapter requires the plan to offer
  benefits in addition to the essential health benefits required
  under 42 U.S.C. Section 18022(b); and
               (2)  this state is required to defray the cost of the
  benefits mandated under this subchapter.
         SECTION 5.  Section 1367.204, Insurance Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         Sec. 1367.204.  [OFFER OF] COVERAGE REQUIRED.  [(a)]  A
  health benefit plan issuer must provide [offer] coverage that
  complies with this subchapter.
         [(b)  The individual or group policy or contract holder may
  reject coverage required to be offered under this section.]
         SECTION 6.  Section 1367.205, Insurance Code, is amended by
  amending Subsections (a) and (b) and adding Subsections (d), (e),
  and (f) to read as follows:
         (a)  Except as provided by Subsection (d), a [A] health
  benefit plan that provides coverage for rehabilitative and
  habilitative therapies under this subchapter may not prohibit or
  restrict payment for covered services provided to a child and
  determined to be necessary to and provided in accordance with an
  individualized family service plan [issued by the Interagency
  Council on Early Childhood Intervention] under Chapter 73, Human
  Resources Code.
         (b)  Except as provided by Subsection(d), rehabilitative
  [Rehabilitative] and habilitative therapies described by
  Subsection (a) must be covered in the amount, duration, scope, and
  service setting established in the child's individualized family
  service plan.
         (d)  Coverage required by this section for specialized
  skills training may be subject to an annual limit of $9,000,
  including case management costs, for each child.  A health benefit
  plan may not apply this limit to:
               (1)  coverage for other rehabilitative and
  habilitative therapies described by Subsection (a); or
               (2)  coverage required by any other law, including:
                     (A)  Section 1355.015; and
                     (B)  the Medicaid program operated under Chapter
  32, Human Resources Code.
         (e)  A health benefit plan prior authorization requirement,
  or any other utilization management requirement, otherwise
  applicable to a covered rehabilitative or habilitative therapy
  service is satisfied if the service is specified in a child's
  individualized family service plan.
         (f)  In accordance with Part C, Individuals with
  Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) (20 U.S.C. Section 1431 et seq.),
  a child must exhaust available coverage under this section before
  the child may receive benefits provided by this state for early
  childhood intervention services.  This section does not reduce the
  obligation of this state or the federal government under Part C,
  Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) (20 U.S.C.
  Section 1431 et seq.).
         SECTION 7.  Section 1367.206, Insurance Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         Sec. 1367.206.  PROHIBITED ACTIONS.  Under the coverage
  required to be offered under this subchapter, a health benefit plan
  issuer may not:
               (1)  except as provided by Section 1367.205(d), apply
  the cost of rehabilitative and habilitative therapies described by
  Section 1367.205(a) to an annual or lifetime maximum plan benefit
  or similar provision under the plan;
               (2)  apply visits to a physician or health care
  provider, as applicable, to receive the rehabilitative and
  habilitative therapies described by Section 1367.205(a) to an
  annual limit on an insured's or enrollee's number of visits to a
  physician or provider; or
               (3)  [(2)] use the cost of rehabilitative or
  habilitative therapies described by Section 1367.205(a) as the sole
  justification for:
                     (A)  increasing plan premiums; or
                     (B)  terminating the insured's or enrollee's
  participation in the plan.
         SECTION 8.  Subchapter E, Chapter 1367, Insurance Code, as
  amended by this Act, applies only to a health benefit plan
  delivered, issued for delivery, or renewed on or after January 1,
  2022.  A health benefit plan delivered, issued for delivery, or
  renewed before January 1, 2022, 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 9.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.