H.B. No. 1649
 
 
 
 
AN ACT
  relating to health benefit coverage for certain fertility
  preservation services and notice regarding certain risks of
  impaired fertility.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Chapter 161, Health and Safety Code, is amended
  by adding Subchapter X to read as follows:
  SUBCHAPTER X. INFORMATION REGARDING RISK OF IMPAIRED FERTILITY FROM
  CANCER TREATMENTS
         Sec. 161.681.  NOTICE FOR CHILDREN RECEIVING CHEMOTHERAPY OR
  RADIATION. (a) A health care facility at which a child will begin
  receiving chemotherapy or radiation that may directly or indirectly
  cause impaired fertility must, before the treatment begins, notify
  the child's parents or legal guardians of the risk of impaired
  fertility from treatment.
         (b)  The department shall develop and make available a
  written notice for a health care facility to use for purposes of
  this section.
         SECTION 2.  Chapter 1366, Insurance Code, is amended by
  adding Subchapter C to read as follows:
  SUBCHAPTER C. COVERAGE FOR CERTAIN FERTILITY PRESERVATION SERVICES
         Sec. 1366.101.  DEFINITION. In this subchapter, "fertility
  preservation services":
               (1)  means the collection and preservation of sperm,
  unfertilized oocytes, and ovarian tissue; and
               (2)  does not include the storage of such unfertilized
  genetic materials.
         Sec. 1366.102.  APPLICABILITY OF SUBCHAPTER. (a) This
  subchapter applies only to a health benefit plan that 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 or similar coverage document that is
  issued in this state by:
               (1)  an insurance company;
               (2)  a group hospital service corporation operating
  under Chapter 842;
               (3)  a health maintenance organization operating under
  Chapter 843;
               (4)  an approved nonprofit health corporation that
  holds a certificate of authority under Chapter 844;
               (5)  a multiple employer welfare arrangement that holds
  a certificate of authority under Chapter 846;
               (6)  a stipulated premium company operating under
  Chapter 884;
               (7)  a fraternal benefit society operating under
  Chapter 885;
               (8)  a Lloyd's plan operating under Chapter 941; or
               (9)  an exchange operating under Chapter 942.
         (b)  Notwithstanding any other law, this subchapter applies
  to:
               (1)  a small employer health benefit plan subject to
  Chapter 1501, including coverage provided through a health group
  cooperative under Subchapter B of that chapter; and
               (2)  a standard health benefit plan issued under
  Chapter 1507.
         Sec. 1366.103.  EXCEPTIONS. This subchapter does not apply
  to:
               (1)  a health benefit plan that provides coverage:
                     (A)  for wages or payments in lieu of wages for a
  period during which an employee is absent from work because of
  sickness or injury; or
                     (B)  only for hospital expenses;
               (2)  Medicaid managed care programs operated under
  Chapter 533, Government Code;
               (3)  Medicaid programs operated under Chapter 32, Human
  Resources Code; or
               (4)  the state child health plan operated under Chapter
  62 or 63, Health and Safety Code.
         Sec. 1366.104.  REQUIRED COVERAGE. (a) Subject to
  Subsection (b), a health benefit plan must provide coverage for
  fertility preservation services to a covered person who will
  receive a medically necessary treatment for cancer, including
  surgery, chemotherapy, or radiation, that the American Society of
  Clinical Oncology or the American Society for Reproductive Medicine
  has established may directly or indirectly cause impaired
  fertility.
         (b)  The fertility preservation services described by
  Subsection (a) must be standard procedures to preserve fertility
  consistent with established medical practices or professional
  guidelines published by the American Society of Clinical Oncology
  or the American Society for Reproductive Medicine.
         SECTION 3.  Subchapter X, Chapter 161, Health and Safety
  Code, as added by this Act, applies only to a child who will begin
  chemotherapy or radiation on or after the effective date of this
  Act.
         SECTION 4.  Subchapter C, Chapter 1366, 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,
  2024.
         SECTION 5.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.
 
 
  ______________________________ ______________________________
     President of the Senate Speaker of the House     
 
 
         I certify that H.B. No. 1649 was passed by the House on May 6,
  2023, by the following vote:  Yeas 104, Nays 31, 2 present, not
  voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.
  No. 1649 on May 25, 2023, by the following vote:  Yeas 114, Nays 30,
  1 present, not voting.
 
  ______________________________
  Chief Clerk of the House   
 
         I certify that H.B. No. 1649 was passed by the Senate, with
  amendments, on May 23, 2023, by the following vote:  Yeas 27, Nays
  4.
 
  ______________________________
  Secretary of the Senate   
  APPROVED: __________________
                  Date       
   
           __________________
                Governor