Below is the relevant legislation related to parity that has been introduced during the current or recently adjourned legislative session. State parity legislation passed in any state since 2008 is usually designed to increase compliance with the federal law and to strengthen state laws.

Are we missing any passed or introduced legislation? Let us know at info@paritytrack.org.

Introduced Legislation

Regular Session Adjourned 5/27/2019
Governor's Deadline 6/16/2019

2019

Primary Focus Mandated Benefit; Parity: General
Title/Description Relating to healthcare coverage in this state
Citation HB.565
Introduced 01/18/2018
Sponsor Rep. Coleman (D)
Status Dead
Summary

Among other things, HB 565 amends Chapter 1355 of the Insurance Code by adding a new subchapter “F” in order to require specified insurers to provide benefits for mental health and substance use disorders in a manner compliant with parity. The amendment includes definitions for “Financial requirement,” “Mental health benefit,” “Nonquantitative treatment limitation,” “Substance use disorder benefit,” and “Treatment limitation.”

2015-2016

HB.2749
Senate Bill SB.1478
Introduced 03/2015
Sponsor Sen. Garcia and Rep. Coleman
Status Dead 03/2015
Summary

This bill tries to change the section of the state insurance law relevant to parity to redefine “serious mental illness,” to include anorexia, bulimia, and eating disorders not otherwise specified, as defined by the American Psychiatric Association in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders . If passed, this law would require many insurance plans to provide coverage for these conditions.

HB.2749
Introduced 03/2015
Status Dead 03/2015
Summary

This bill sought to amend the state parity law within the Insurance code to add anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa to the definition of serious mental illness. This bill is the same as HB 2749 during the 2015-2016 legislative cycle except that it would not have created an advisory committee to study the bill’s impact on access and costs.

HB.3986
Introduced 03/2015
Status Dead 05/2015
Summary

This bill sought to amend the autism section of the Insurance Code to add recreational therapy as a generally recognized service.

HB.838
Senate Bill SB.1774
Introduced 01/2015
Sponsor Rep. Naishtat and Sen. Menendez
Status Dead 02/2015
Summary

This bill tries to change the section of the state insurance law relevant to parity by adding post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to the list of conditions covered.

2013-2014

HB.592
Senate Bill SB.1485
Introduced 01/2013
Sponsor Rep. Naishtat and Sen. Watson
Status Dead 04/2013
Summary

This bill tried to change the section of the state insurance law relevant to parity by adding post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to the list of conditions covered.

HB.3227
Introduced 03/2013
Sponsor Rep. Coleman
Status Dead 06/2013
Summary

This bill tried to change the section of the state insurance law relevant to parity by redifing “serious mental illness,” so that it includes anorexia, bulimia, and eating disorders not otherwise specified, as defined by the American Psychiatric Association in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders . This would have required many insurance plans to provide coverage for these conditions.

HB.3326
Introduced 03/2013
Sponsor Rep. Coleman
Status Dead 04/2013
Summary

This bill sought to require many insurance plans to provide coverage for self-inflicted physical injuries for survivors of suicide attempts and self-harm by individuals with serious mental illness, as defined in the parity portion of the Insurance Code. Plans would have to provide this coverage even if they do not offer behavioral health coverage. Coverage would be provided only to those under 18 years of age.

2011-2012

HB.1292
Introduced 02/2011
Sponsor Rep. Coleman
Status Dead 03/2011
Summary

This bill tried to change the section of the state insurance law relevant to parity by redefining “serious mental illness,” so that the definition includes anorexia, bulimia, and eating disorders not otherwise specified, as defined by the American Psychiatric Association in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

HB.2228
Introduced 03/2011
Sponsor Rep. Coleman
Status Dead 03/2011
Summary

This bill tried to require individual plans, large employer fully-insured plans, school district health plans, and local government plans to provide coverage for self-inflicted physical injuries for survivors of suicide attempts and self-harm by individuals with serious mental illness, as defined in the section of the state insurance law relevant to parity . Plans would have to provide this coverage even if they do not offer behavioral health coverage. Coverage would be provided only to those under 18 years of age.

HB.2300
Introduced 03/2011
Sponsor Rep. Coleman
Status Dead 03/2011
Summary

This bill tried to change the section of the state insurance law relevant to parity so that it would cover all diagnoses in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders that impair an individual’s functioning, rather than just several serious mental illnesses. It also included language that would have required plans to offer mental health coverage “under the same terms and conditions as coverage provided for the diagnosis and treatment of physical illness.” It also contained specific language to ensure parity in regards to inpatient days, outpatient visits, treatment limitations, and financial requirements. The bill also tried to increase the scope of the law so that it would require more small employers to offer mental health coverage in their insurance plans.

HB.1192
Senate Bill SB.574
Introduced 02/2011
Sponsor Sen. Van de Putte and Rep. Castro
Status Dead 02/2011
Summary

This bill tried to change the section of the state insurance law relevant to parity so that it would cover “serious emotional disturbances of a child” in addition to serious mental illnesses. This would have extended coverage to children age 3-17. To qualify as having a serious emotional disorder, a child would have had to meet at least one of the following criteria:

  1. The disorder is likely to continue without treatment
  2. The disorder results in impairment in at least two of the following: self care, family engagement, functioning in school, and functioning in the community.
  3. The disorder creates a risk that the child will be removed from home
  4. The disorder cause the child to experience psychotic symptoms or be a danger to self or others
  5. The disorder results in the child meeting special education criteria
HB.1321
Introduced 02/2011
Sponsor Rep. Allen
Status Dead 03/2011
Summary

This bill intended to amend the autism section of the Insurance Code to extend the requirement that health benefit plans cover treatment for autism spectrum disorder from 9 years of age until 18 years of age.

2009-2010

HB.2969
Introduced 03/2009
Sponsor Rep. Coleman
Status Dead 03/2009
Summary

This bill tried to change the section of the state insurance law relevant to parity so that it would cover all diagnoses in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders that impair an individual’s functioning, rather than just several serious mental illnesses. It also included language that would have required plans to offer mental health coverage “under the same terms and conditions as coverage provided for the diagnosis and treatment of physical illness.” It also contained specific language to ensure parity in regards to inpatient days, outpatient visits, treatment limitations, and financial requirements. The bill also tried to increase the scope of the law so that it would require more small employers to offer mental health coverage in their insurance plans.

HB.868
Introduced 01/2009
Sponsor Rep. Farabee
Status Dead 04/2009
Summary

This bill tried to change the section of the state insurance law relevant to parity. It would have added anorexia and bulimia to the list of covered conditions. It also would have required small employer plans to provide coverage for anorexia, bulimia, and depression for people under age 19, even if the small employer rejects the other provisions covered by the section of the state insurance law relevant to parity. The bill would have also required the Sunset Advisory Commission (SAC) and the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) to conduct a study regarding the changes in insurance plan coverage and subsequent costs.

HB.1121
Introduced 02/2009
Sponsor Rep. Bolton
Status Dead 02/2009
Summary

This bill tried to change the section of the state insurance law relevant to parity. The proposed changes would have required affected insurance plans to provide coverage for “serious mental illness under terms at least as favorable as those provided for the diagnosis and treatment of medical and surgical conditions.” It also mandated that the current 45 days of inpatient treatment and 60 outpatient visits would be the floor for mental health treatment. In other words, if a plan only offered 30 days of inpatient treatment and 50 outpatient visits for other medical care, it would have to go beyond that for mental health care. The bill also specified that there could be no treatment limitations and financial requirements in place for mental health coverage that are not in place for other medical coverage. The bill also sought to eliminate some exemptions in place for certain insurance plans.

HB.2975
Introduced 03/2009
Sponsor Rep. Coleman
Status Dead 04/2009
Summary

This bill tried to require individual plans, large employer fully-insured plans, school district health plans, and local government plans to provide coverage for self-inflicted physical injuries for survivors of suicide attempts and self-harm by individuals with serious mental illness, as defined in the section of the state insurance law relevant to parity. Plans would have to provide this coverage even if they do not offer behavioral health coverage. Coverage would be provided only to those under 18 years of age.

HB.2976
Senate Bill SB.1366
Introduced 03/2009
Sponsor Rep. Coleman
Status Dead 03/2009
Summary

This bill intended to amend the state parity law within the Insurance Code to add a definition of “mental disorder.” The bill defines mental disorder as any condition listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) except those that are classified as a “V-Code,” mental retardation, a learning disorder, a motor skill disorder, or a communication disorder.
The bill also explicitly says that small and large employers insurance must offer optional coverage for treatment of mental disorders that is equal to coverage for physical illnesses.

HB.2967
Introduced 03/2009
Sponsor Rep. Coleman
Status Dead 05/2009
Summary

This bill sought to amend the state parity law within the Insurance code to add anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa to the definition of serious mental illness. This bill also would have created an advisory committee to study the impact of these changes to the Insurance Code on people accessing treatment and the effect on the cost of health plans. This bill is the same as HB 2769 during the 2015-2016 legislative cycle.

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Common Violations

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