HBA-TBM, CCH C.S.H.B. 835 77(R)BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisC.S.H.B. 835 By: Kitchen Public Health 3/19/2001 Committee Report (Substituted) BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Texas has done a great deal of work to address its uninsured children through the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), a program that provides health insurance coverage to children under the age of 18 who are from working families with incomes too high to qualify for Medicaid but who cannot afford private coverage. However, low-income families are often unable to obtain affordable, quality health care. Many parents of children who benefit from CHIP and Medicaid are not eligible for the state-sponsored health insurance themselves. Between 1996-1998, an average of more than three million Texans between 18 and 64 years of age were uninsured. Low-income children are more likely to be enrolled in state health insurance programs when coverage is offered to the entire family, rather than to children alone. C.S.H.B. 835 requires the Health and Human Services Commission to conduct a study to determine the feasibility of a buy-in option to allow families without access to health benefits coverage to purchase coverage for all family members under CHIP. 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 C.S.H.B. 835 requires the Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) to conduct a study to determine the feasibility of a buy-in option to allow families without access to health benefits coverage to purchase coverage for all family members under the state child health plan. The bill requires HHSC to examine the cost of comparable health benefits in the current market and the buy-in option's fiscal impact on the state and on families that would participate in the plan. The bill also requires HHSC to examine the need for a buy-in option by determining the number of families likely to participate and whether families that would participate in the plan could be covered in the private market. HHSC is required to examine the role of private insurance agents in enrollment in the plan through the buy-in option, the possible effects that a buy-in option to the plan would have on the private market for health benefit plan coverage, the options for the system of delivery for plan benefits, and the options for obtaining federal matching funds for the program. In conducting the study, HHSC is required to consult consumer groups and issuers of health benefits plan coverage in the private market. The bill authorizes the commission to consult other groups in conducting the study. The bill requires HHSC to submit a written report of its findings to the governor, lieutenant governor, and speaker of the house of representatives no later than November 1, 2002. EFFECTIVE DATE On passage, or if the Act does not receive the necessary vote, the Act takes effect September 1, 2001. COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE C.S.H.B. 835 differs from the original by requiring the Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) to examine the role of private insurance agents in enrollment in the plan through the buy-in option, the possible effects that a buy-in option to the plan would have on the private market for health benefits plan coverage, the options for the system of delivery for plan benefits, and the options for obtaining federal matching funds for the program. The substitute also requires HHSC in conducting the study to consult consumer groups and issuers of health benefits plan coverage in the private market.