HBA-NRS H.B. 2146 77(R)BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 2146 By: Chisum Insurance 7/17/2001 Enrolled BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Small businesses are facing increasingly expensive employee health insurance premiums. A substantial claim by one employee can increase the rate of premiums paid by the employer for all employees. Prior to the 77th Legislature, state law did not require an issuer of group health benefit plans to provide a small employer with the claims cost information of the employees covered by a group health benefit plan. Consequently, the employer could not verify the legitimacy of rate increases, thereby hindering the ability of the employer to evaluate alternatives to health insurance providers. House Bill 2146 requires the issuer of a group health benefit plan to provide a small employer with claims cost information of the small employer's employees covered by the plan. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. ANALYSIS House Bill 2146 amends the Insurance Code to require the issuer of a group health benefit plan that is issued to the employees of one or more employers that sponsor the plan to provide to the employer the claims cost information for employees covered by the plan during the preceding calendar year. The bill provides that the information must be reported separately for each month during which the plan was in effect. The bill authorizes claims cost information to be provided either in the aggregate or on a detailed basis, but prohibits the inclusion of any information through which a specific individual enrolled in the group health benefit plan may be identified or diagnosis codes or other information through which a diagnosis of a specific individual enrolled in the group health benefit plan may be identified. The bill authorizes the employer to use the information only for purposes relating to obtaining and maintaining group health benefit plan coverage for the employer's employees. EFFECTIVE DATE September 1, 2001. The Act applies only to a group health benefit plan that is delivered, issued for delivery, or renewed on or after January 1, 2002.