Texas Register, Volume 34, Number 33, Pages 5445-5614, August 14, 2009 Page: 5,488
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amends the Insurance Code Chapter 4201; and [in develping rules and
regulations for utilization review.]
(2) advise the commissioner on other changes and addi-
tions to the existing rules regulating utilization review that the depart-
ment determines are needed to administer the Insurance Code Chapter
4201.
(c) Tasks. The tasks of the advisory committee include those
tasks specified in the following paragraphs:
(1) The advisory committee shall review and evaluate
proposed changes and additions to the current utilization review rules
in this subchapter [statutes to determine and develop any necessary
hanger s to the current utilization review regulations , and the advi-
sory committee shall make recommendations to the commissioner
regarding such proposed changes and additions;
(2) The advisory committee shall advise and consult with
the commissioner or the commissioner's representative during its re-
view and evaluation made pursuant to paragraph (1) of this subsection;
and [of current utilization review statutes;]
[(3) The advisory committee may advise the commissioner
on the need for subcommittees o r workgropls to fulfill its tasks;]
(3) [(4)] The advisory committee shall perform other tasks
related to the development of rules as provided by paragraph (1) of this
subsection and as requested by the commissioner pursuant to the In-
surance Code Chapter 4201 and the Government Code Chapter 2110[,
Artile 21.58A].
(d) Membership. Pursuant to the Insurance Code 4201.003,
[Article 21.5 8A, 13,] the membership of the advisory committee shall
include [consist of]:
(1) One representative for each of the following: the Office
of Public Insurance Counsel, an insurance company, a health mainte-
nance organization, a group hospital service corporation, a workers'
compensation insurance carrier, a utilization review agent, a health
coverage consumer group, injured employees, an employer, a physi-
cian, a dentist, a hospital, a registered nurse, and other health care
providers; and
(2) (No change.)
(e) Reporting Requirements. After completion of review and
evaluation of proposed changes and additions to the current utilization
review rules in this subchapter, or completion of any other tasks in ac-
cordance with subsection (c)(3) of this section, the advisory committee
shall submit a report of its recommendations to the commissioner.
(f) [(e)] Duration. The advisory committee shall automatically
terminate on December 31, 2010 [1998], unless, before its termination,
the commissioner extends its duration by rule.
This agency hereby certifies that the proposal has been reviewed
by legal counsel and found to be within the agency's legal author-
ity to adopt.
Filed with the Office of the Secretary of State on July 29, 2009.
TRD-200903212
Brenda Caldwell
Assistant General Counsel
Texas Department of Insurance
Earliest possible date of adoption: September 13, 2009
For further information, please call: (512) 463-6327
* + +TITLE 34. PUBLIC FINANCE
PART 5. TEXAS COUNTY AND
DISTRICT RETIREMENT SYSTEM
CHAPTER 103. CALCULATIONS OR TYPES
OF BENEFITS
34 TAC 103.10
The Texas County and District Retirement System proposes an
amendment to 103.10, concerning the distribution of a survivor
benefit under Government Code, 844.407. House Bill 1587,
as enacted in the 2007 Regular Session of the 80th Legislature,
changed the benefit to be actuarially equivalent to the deceased
member's accrued benefit and authorized the board to prescribe
the forms and manner in which the benefit may be paid. Under
this authority the board authorized certain payments to be made
as lump sums.
Employer provided benefits are funded over time with the expec-
tation that those benefits would be paid out over time. Although
the vast majority of subdivision plans would be unaffected by in-
frequent and occasional single sum payments, with the decrease
in the value of trust assets because of the current worldwide eco-
nomic downturn, an immediate lump-sum payment from the sub-
division's account can in certain instances deplete the subdivi-
sion's account below a prudently maintained balance.
In accordance with the statutory authority of the board to pre-
scribe payment forms, the proposed amendment changes the
regular form of payment to an estate from a single sum to an
installment payment arrangement not extending beyond the last
day of the calendar year containing the fifth anniversary of the
member's death. This is in compliance with the distribution re-
quirements of the Internal Revenue Code. The installment pay-
ment arrangement would be equivalent in value to payment as a
single sum as interest (payable from the subdivision's account)
would be accruing on unpaid balances. The system is autho-
rized to allow lump-sum payments of the total accrued benefit or
the remaining unpaid balance if it determines at that time that a
lump sum payment will not harm or injure the funded status of
the subdivision's plan.
In addition, the proposed amendment will now allow a desig-
nated beneficiary to disclaim their portion of the benefit provided
the disclaimer does not cause the benefit to default to the estate.
The original rule was adopted to discourage a single designated
beneficiary from thwarting the decedent's intent to have the ben-
efit paid in the form of an annuity by disclaiming the benefit as
a beneficiary and taking the benefit as the heir to the estate.
As proposed, the amendment would permit the remaining des-
ignated beneficiaries to share in the disclaimed benefit and still
receive their benefits as annuities.
W. James Nabholz, III, General Counsel, has determined that for
the first five-year period the rule is in effect there will be no fiscal
implications for state or local government as a result of enforcing
or administering the rule.
Mr. Nabholz has also determined that for each year of the first
five years the rule is in effect the public benefit anticipated as
a result of administering the rule will be the preservation and
protection of accrued benefits. There will be no costs to small
businesses. There are no anticipated economic costs to persons
who are required to comply with the rule as proposed.34 TexReg 5488 August 14, 2009 Texas Register
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Texas. Secretary of State. Texas Register, Volume 34, Number 33, Pages 5445-5614, August 14, 2009, periodical, August 14, 2009; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth90865/m1/43/: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.