2025 · Regular session · House bill
HB721
HB721 removes regional or local health care programs operated under Health and Safety Code Section 75.104 from Insurance Code Chapter 1662's health care cost-transparency requirements.
Official caption: Relating to the applicability of certain laws requiring health care cost disclosures by health benefit plan issuers and administrators.
Official report lists House author(s): Leo Wilson. This does not identify sponsors or amendment drafters.
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.
- HB721 removes regional or local health care programs operated under Health and Safety Code Section 75.104 from Insurance Code Chapter 1662's health care cost-transparency requirements.
- These are a defined type of program, not all health plans operated locally.
- The exemption removes this chapter's duties to provide requested enrollee cost-sharing estimates and related information.
What does it do?
HB721 removes regional or local health care programs operated under Health and Safety Code Section 75.104 from Insurance Code Chapter 1662’s health care cost-transparency requirements. It moves that specific category from the chapter’s list of covered plans to its list of exemptions. The change took effect September 1, 2025. Final law
These are a defined type of program, not all health plans operated locally. Section 75.104 allows a regional or local program to contract directly with local providers to serve participating small employers’ employees and dependents, and requires access for individuals receiving state premium assistance. It already states that the operating governing body is not an insurer or HMO and that the program is not regulated by the Texas Department of Insurance. HB721 does not create those existing features. Program statute
The exemption removes this chapter’s duties to provide requested enrollee cost-sharing estimates and related information. It also removes the chapter’s public price-file requirements where those requirements would otherwise apply; that public-disclosure subchapter is itself limited to plans outside specified federal reporting requirements. HB721 does not repeal Chapter 1662 for other covered plans, change patients’ covered benefits or set medical prices. It does not change independently applicable federal law. Cost-transparency chapter
What changed along the way?
The introduced text, House committee report, engrossed bill, Senate committee report and final law have identical operative provisions. Both committees reported it without amendments, and the official amendment index lists none. There was no conference rewrite. The House passed it May 8; the Senate passed it May 28; the governor signed June 20. Official history
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?
Operators of the specified regional or local programs may avoid the administrative expense of producing Chapter 1662 disclosures and maintaining applicable public price files. Participants and people comparing costs lose this particular statutory disclosure requirement for those programs, although the law does not prohibit voluntary information sharing or repeal duties imposed elsewhere.
The latest fiscal note anticipated no significant state or local-government fiscal impact, assuming any costs could be absorbed with existing resources. It does not quantify savings to individual programs or effects on patient bills. There is no new appropriation or guaranteed premium reduction in the act.
Official sources
- Bill history and latest recorded action
- Bill versions, analyses and fiscal notes
- Action history and votes
- Amendment index
Catalog report retrieved 2026-10-25. Check the official record for corrections or later changes.