H.B. No. 138 establishes the Health Impact, Cost, and Coverage Analysis Program within the Texas Insurance Code by adding Subchapter J. This program is tasked with preparing analyses of legislative documents that introduce new mandates for health benefit plan issuers or administrators. Key terms such as "analysis program," "enrollee," and "health care provider" are defined, and the responsibilities of the Center for Health Care Data at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston are outlined. The program aims to evaluate the potential impacts of proposed legislation on public health, health coverage costs, and administrative expenses.

To fund the program, the bill allows the comptroller to impose an annual fee on health benefit plan issuers, with exemptions for certain plans, based on the number of covered lives. The Center for Health Care Data is required to prepare and deliver reports within specified timeframes, ensuring accessibility while maintaining confidentiality of individual issuer responses. Additionally, conflict of interest requirements are established for employees involved in the program. The bill mandates the center to develop a cost estimate for the program by January 1, 2026, and requires the Texas Department of Insurance to report covered lives for 2024 to aid in fee assessments for 2025. The bill will take effect immediately upon a two-thirds vote or on September 1, 2025, if that threshold is not met.

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