2025 Texas sessionsRegular and both called sessions have ended. This index covers House and Senate bills, not resolutions. Statuses come from official reports.

2025 · Regular session · House bill

HB1052

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Official caption: Relating to health benefit plan coverage of telemedicine, teledentistry, and telehealth appointments with an originating site or distant site located outside this state.

Became law without signatureSource-checked explanation published

Official report lists House author(s): Bhojani, Vo, Oliverson, Cortez, Harris Davila. This does not identify sponsors or amendment drafters.

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Bill explanation published · Version and amendment review scope is stated below · Individual amendment records may not be separately annotated.

Bill highlights

Selected points from the published explanation. Follow each point to its source-linked context; conditions and limits may matter.

HB1052 requires health benefit plans subject to Insurance Code Chapter 1455 to cover an otherwise covered telemedicine, teledentistry or telehealth service on the same basis and to the same extent when the patient's or provider's location is outside Texas as when both are in Texas.
The “originating site” is the patient's location; the “distant site” is the provider's location.
Existing Chapter 1455 limits still matter.
The act took effect September 1, 2025, but the coverage change applies to plans delivered, issued for delivery or renewed on or after January 1, 2026.

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What does it do?

HB1052 requires health benefit plans subject to Insurance Code Chapter 1455 to cover an otherwise covered telemedicine, teledentistry or telehealth service on the same basis and to the same extent when the patient’s or provider’s location is outside Texas as when both are in Texas. Two conditions must be met: the patient primarily resides in Texas, and the provider is licensed or otherwise authorized to provide the service in Texas and has a physical office in Texas.

The “originating site” is the patient’s location; the “distant site” is the provider’s location. The law addresses insurance coverage, not a general license to practice in another state. It does not promise coverage for every service, provider or insurance plan. Final law · Service definitions

Existing Chapter 1455 limits still matter. Its exceptions include small-employer plans written under Chapter 1501, specified-disease-only coverage, accident-death/dismemberment-only coverage, disability-income coverage, liability-policy supplements, Medicare supplements, workers’ compensation, auto medical-payment coverage, and most long-term-care policies. The chapter also limits coverage requirements for audio-only, text-only email and fax services. It permits applicable deductibles, copayments and coinsurance; this bill does not make visits free. Plan scope, exceptions and existing coverage rules

The act took effect September 1, 2025, but the coverage change applies to plans delivered, issued for delivery or renewed on or after January 1, 2026. Earlier plans remain under the former law until the relevant new issuance or renewal. Official history

What changed along the way?

All five indexed versions—introduced, House committee, engrossed, Senate committee and enrolled—have identical operative text. The amendment index reports no amendments. The new elements are definitions for the patient and provider locations and the conditional interstate-coverage rule; the existing definition of health professional is renumbered, not newly expanded to any unlicensed provider.

The bill became law without the governor’s signature on June 22, 2025. It should not be described as signed by the governor. Introduced text · House committee text · Engrossed text · Senate committee text · Amendment index

For the full amendment record, open the official amendment index.

Official bill versions

Compare the published text versions in the official text index. A change is not attributed to a specific amendment here without a verified record.

Who could benefit—and who could bear the costs?

Texas residents temporarily outside the state could benefit from continuity with a qualifying Texas-based provider. A qualifying provider temporarily outside Texas can also fall within the coverage rule. These examples depend on the statute’s conditions and otherwise applicable coverage and practice rules; they are not guarantees that every cross-border appointment is lawful or payable.

Affected plans must administer the new coverage requirement. Both Legislative Budget Board fiscal notes anticipated no significant state or local-government fiscal impact, assuming state costs could be absorbed with existing resources. The notes do not forecast an individual patient’s savings, insurer claims costs or premium changes. Introduced fiscal note · Engrossed fiscal note

Official sources

Catalog report retrieved 2026-10-25. Check the official record for corrections or later changes.