BILL ANALYSIS

H.B. 2642

By: Howard

Higher Education

Committee Report (Unamended)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

According to the March of Dimes, approximately 25 percent of women of childbearing age are

uninsured in Texas. According to the comptroller of public accounts, Texas continues to have the highest rates of uninsured people in the country with nearly a quarter of working-age Texans 19 to 64 being uninsured, making up the biggest share of the state's uninsured, with younger adults at the highest likelihood of being uninsured. Furthermore, Texas has one of the highest rates of uninsured kids in the country. It is reasonable to assume that many will enter adulthood without access to health insurance. In 2015, the legislature established the Healthy Texas Women program, which is a health care program with limited services related to women's health. Though it may not count as full health insurance, it does allow for low-income women who do not qualify for Medicaid and cannot afford health insurance on their own to access limited reproductive health care services. However, a current barrier to entry for this population is a lack of awareness about the program. H.B. 2642 seeks to increase access to women's health services for Texans enrolled in institutions of higher education by requiring all these institutions to send an email notification with information about how to enroll in the state's women's health programs.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.

ANALYSIS

H.B. 2642 amends the Education Code to require a public institution of higher education, during the fall semester of each academic year, to distribute by email to each student enrolled at the institution information regarding women's health programs administered by the Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC), including information about the following:

·         eligibility requirements for those programs; and

·         enrollment procedures for those programs, including a link to the HHSC website that hosts that enrollment information.

H.B. 2642 applies beginning with the 2023 fall semester.

EFFECTIVE DATE

On passage, or, if the bill does not receive the necessary vote, September 1, 2023.