Bill requiring insurance coverage for burial of fetal remains

The text as introduced · 804 words

89R6275 SCR-D

By: Anchía
H.B. No. 2896

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to insurance coverage for the disposition of embryonic and

fetal tissue remains.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Title 9, Insurance Code, is amended by adding

Chapter 1702 to read as follows:

CHAPTER 1702. CERTAIN COVERAGE REQUIRED FOR DISPOSITION OF

EMBRYONIC AND FETAL TISSUE REMAINS

Sec. 1702.001. APPLICABILITY. (a) This chapter applies to

any issuer, sponsor, trustee, or third-party administrator of any

insurance policy, annuity or other contract, or group benefit plan

that provides a death benefit payable for the costs of cremation or

burial of a child of a named insured or beneficiary, including:

(1) an insurance company operating under Chapter 841;

(2) a statewide mutual assessment company operating

under Chapter 881;

(3) a mutual life insurance company operating under

Chapter 882;

(4) a stipulated premium insurance company operating

under Chapter 884;

(5) a fraternal benefit society operating under

Chapter 885;

(6) a local mutual aid association operating under

Chapter 886;

(7) a burial association operating under Chapter 888;

(8) an employer or other group benefit plan sponsor,

regardless of whether the death benefit is provided through an

insurance policy or is self-insured;

(9) a voluntary association that holds a group life

insurance policy under Chapter 1578;

(10) a third-party administrator under Chapter 4151

for group benefits that include a death benefit; and

(11) a trustee of a trust-funded prepaid funeral

benefits contract regulated under Subchapter F, Chapter 154,

Finance Code.

(b) This chapter applies 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.

(c) Notwithstanding any other law, this chapter 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;

(2) a standard health benefit plan issued under

Chapter 1507;

(3) nonprofit agricultural organization health

benefits offered by a nonprofit agricultural organization under

Chapter 1682;

(4) alternative health benefit coverage offered by a

subsidiary of the Texas Mutual Insurance Company under Subchapter

M, Chapter 2054;

(5) a regional or local health care program operated

under Section 75.104, Health and Safety Code; and

(6) a self-funded health benefit plan sponsored by a

professional employer organization under Chapter 91, Labor Code.

(d) This chapter does not apply to:

(1) a 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;

(B) as a supplement to a liability insurance

policy;

(C) for credit insurance;

(D) only for dental or vision care;

(E) only for hospital expenses; or

(F) only for indemnity for hospital confinement;

(2) a Medicare supplemental policy as defined by

Section 1882(g)(1), Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. Section

1395ss(g)(1));

(3) a workers' compensation insurance policy;

(4) medical payment insurance coverage provided under

a motor vehicle insurance policy;

(5) a long-term care 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 Subsection (b) or (c); or

(6) the state Medicaid program, including the Medicaid

managed care program operated under Chapter 540, Government Code.

Sec. 1702.002. REQUIRED COVERAGE. (a) An entity to which

this chapter applies must provide a benefit or coverage for up to

$7,500 of the cost of disposition of embryonic and fetal tissue

remains with a post-fertilization age of 20 weeks or more.

(b) The manner of disposition for which coverage is required

by Subsection (a) includes:

(1) interment;

(2) cremation;

(3) incineration followed by interment; and

(4) steam disinfection followed by interment.

SECTION 2. Chapter 1702, Insurance Code, as added by this

Act, applies only to an insurance policy, evidence of coverage,

annuity or other contract, or group benefit plan that is delivered,

issued for delivery, or renewed on or after January 1, 2026.

SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.