HB2655

HB2655 allows a community-based nonprofit organization to establish or participate in a regional health-care program without a county commissioners court’s participation only if it is a premium-assistance program that does not offer health-care services or health-care benefits. In plain terms, this new route concerns help paying premiums, not authority for the nonprofit program itself to provide medical services or benefits. Final law, Section 1.

A qualifying program can operate under a nonprofit organization’s direct governance or through a participating nonprofit as the operating entity. The existing county-led regional and local routes remain. The statutory meaning of “regional” remains a program operating in two or more counties. The chapter’s small-employer definition generally requires an average of 2–50 employees on business days in the preceding year and at least two employees on the first day of the plan year. HB2655 does not rewrite those definitions. Final law, Section 2; definitions.

The law adapts the program objectives—reducing uninsured numbers and health-care or coverage costs—to include a county where a participating nonprofit operates, instead of requiring a participating county government for those objectives. It retains the other stated goals concerning prevention, efficient care, health information technology and fair provider payment. The act took effect September 1, 2025. It authorizes this organizational route; it does not itself launch a program, guarantee enrollment or appropriate subsidy money. Final law, Sections 3–4; history.