HB541

HB541 expands Texas’s direct-primary-care framework into a broader direct-patient-care framework. It covers physicians and other health professionals licensed or otherwise authorized under Occupations Code Title 3, and health services beyond primary care, including medical or psychological diagnosis, treatment and advice. It expressly includes qualifying telemedicine and telehealth. A direct fee can be a membership, retainer, subscription or payment for a visit or episode of care. The governor signed the bill June 20, 2025, and it took effect that day. Only agreements entered into on or after that date are governed by these changes; earlier agreements remain under the prior law. Final law; history.

A signed direct-patient-care agreement exchanges specified health services for a direct fee over a period of time. It is not health or accident insurance, and the practitioner does not need an insurance certificate of authority for this arrangement. The practitioner must disclose in writing or electronically, before the agreement, that it is not insurance. A provider may not also bill an insurer or health maintenance organization for direct care paid under the agreement. The framework does not apply to workers’ compensation insurance coverage.

State agencies, insurers, health maintenance organizations and covered health providers cannot penalize or interfere with a practitioner or payer solely because they provide or pay for direct care. That “solely because” protection is not immunity from ordinary professional standards or a new license to practice outside an authorized profession. The law also carries forward the provision that furnishing this direct care does not violate the cited insurance rule on deductible/copayment responsibility. Referenced insurance provision; telehealth definitions.