Texas home and auto insurers could no longer put rate increases of more than 5% into effect on their own under a bill filed Nov. 9 by Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer, D-San Antonio. House Bill 226 would require the insurance commissioner to approve those changes first, according to the bill text.
The change would reach most Texas households. Under current law, insurers file homeowners and personal auto rates with the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) and may use them right away; the department can disapprove a rate later if it finds it excessive or unfairly discriminatory. That “file and use” system dates to insurance changes the Legislature made in 2003. HB 226 would keep it for small changes and add a “prior approval” step, meaning the state must sign off before customers pay, for larger ones.
“An insurer may not use a rate filed under Section 2251.101 without prior commissioner approval if the rate increased or decreased by more than five percent from the insurer’s previously filed rate,” the bill says. The threshold works in both directions, so a cut of more than 5% would also need approval. Until a decision, the old rate would stay in effect.
The bill puts the commissioner on a clock. TDI would have 90 days to approve or disapprove a rate and could extend once by 90 days for good cause. Time spent waiting on an insurer’s answers to TDI’s questions would not count. A rate that is neither approved nor disapproved in time would be considered approved.
To approve a rate, the commissioner would have to find premiums “just, adequate, reasonable, not excessive, and not unfairly discriminatory.” The review would weigh the insurer’s financial condition, expenses, paid and incurred losses, and investment earnings, including projected investment earnings. An insurer could request a hearing within 30 days of a disapproval. TDI would have to “track, compile, and routinely analyze” the reasons it rejects rates. The bill applies to rates filed on or after Jan. 1, 2028.
The proposal arrives as coastal and inland homeowners face rising costs. The state’s insurer of last resort for wind coverage on the coast voted Nov. 10 to seek a loan of about $44 million to cover a shortfall from Hurricane Beryl claims, as the Dispatch reported before the vote. That board has also sent the Legislature recommendations on its finances.
The design choice in HB 226 is a trade-off. A prior-approval step gives regulators a chance to review a large increase before it is billed. It can also delay rate changes, and the bill’s 90-day clock, its one extension and its “deemed approved” rule are aimed at limiting that delay. Insurer groups had not posted a response to the bill as of Nov. 12.
A separate bill takes up health coverage. Senate Bill 258, filed Nov. 9 by Sen. Rehmet, would let the commissioner consider affordability when reviewing individual health plan rates, including plans sold on the federal marketplace. In deciding whether a rate is excessive, the commissioner “may consider whether the rate is affordable and whether the health benefit plan issuer has implemented effective strategies to enhance the affordability of its rates,” the bill says. The power is discretionary, and the bill would apply to coverage issued or renewed on or after Jan. 1, 2029.
Many Texans buying their own coverage face higher 2027 premiums and fewer choices, with some counties down to one insurer. Federal open enrollment runs Nov. 1 through Jan. 15.
Both bills would take effect Sept. 1, 2027, if passed. The 90th Legislature convenes Jan. 12, 2027.
Key facts
- HB 226 (Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer), filed Nov. 9, 2026: commissioner prior approval for homeowners and personal auto rate changes above 5%, up or down.
- 90-day decision clock, one 90-day extension; undecided rates deemed approved; applies to rates filed on or after Jan. 1, 2028.
- SB 258 (Sen. Rehmet), filed Nov. 9: commissioner “may consider” affordability in individual health plan rate review; coverage from Jan. 1, 2029.
- Both effective Sept. 1, 2027, if enacted; session convenes Jan. 12, 2027.