The Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) filed two proposed workers’ compensation rules on November 10, 2026, building out the data reporting infrastructure behind House Bill 2067 — the 2025 law that requires workers’ compensation (WC) carriers to tell customers why their application was declined or their policy canceled or not renewed.
The customer notification obligation itself is already in effect under separate rules (28 TAC §5.9503 and §5.9504, effective February 4, 2026). These new proposed rules address the other half of HB 2067: the data that carriers must report back to TDI so the department can monitor declination, cancellation, and nonrenewal patterns across the market.
The more operationally significant proposal creates a new Texas Declination Statistical Plan for Workers’ Compensation, adopted by reference under proposed §5.6701. The plan requires all insurers writing direct WC coverage in Texas to report declination data on a quarterly basis to NCCI, TDI’s designated statistical agent for workers’ compensation.
Under the statistical plan, each time an insurer declines a completed and submitted application for WC coverage, it must identify the most applicable reason code from the plan’s prescribed list. At the end of each reporting period, the insurer reports to NCCI the number of declination notices issued for each reason code. Insurers that did not decline any applications during a given quarter must still submit a report using a “no declinations” code. NCCI then provides the collected data to TDI.
TDI is required under Insurance Code §551.006(b) to post an aggregated summary of the insurers’ reports on its website — meaning the declination data will be public.
An important distinction: the reason codes in the statistical plan are for data reporting to TDI only. TDI stated explicitly that in customer-facing notices and disclosures required under Insurance Code §551.002, insurers should provide a comprehensive description or explanation of the reasons for the specific declination — not simply cite a reason code.
The declination reporting requirements apply to all declinations starting on July 1, 2027. Reports are due quarterly, with specific dates set out in the statistical plan.
While HB 2067 also requires reporting on cancellation and nonrenewal data, WC carriers in Texas already report that information under existing Labor Code §406.008 and 28 TAC §110.1. Proposed §5.6702 simply confirms that compliance with those existing requirements satisfies the new Insurance Code §551.006 obligation for cancellation and nonrenewal data. No new reporting is required on that front.
A companion proposal addresses a longstanding cleanup. TDI proposes to repeal the current §5.6601, which governs the Texas Detailed Claim Information (DCI) Statistical Plan. The DCI reporting requirement is obsolete: NCCI replaced DCI with Indemnity Data Call (IDC) reporting nationally in 2020, and as of January 1, 2024, Texas is the only state that still requires DCI data. Texas WC carriers already report equivalent claims information under the Division of Workers’ Compensation’s electronic data interchange (EDI) rules in 28 TAC Chapter 124, Subchapter B, and Chapter 134, Subchapter I. The new §5.6601 cross-references those existing requirements, and the division is retitled “Workers’ Compensation Claim Data Reporting.” The repeal removes duplicative reporting and is expected to reduce compliance costs.
The declination reporting rule (§5.6701) is the one that creates new operational work. TDI estimates that initial systems setup — integrating the tracking, collection, and reporting of declination data into existing computer systems and databases — could require 20 to 50 hours of IT professional time (database architects, systems analysts, programmers) and 10 to 30 hours of compliance and administrative staff time. Ongoing quarterly reporting is expected to require 10 to 25 hours per reporting period across IT, compliance, and administrative functions.
Carriers should also be aware that NCCI may require additional or increased submission fees for the new data in the future, though NCCI does not currently plan to charge for services under this proposed rule. Insurers that report through an outside vendor or managing general agent would likely incur additional fees from those entities.
Written comments on both proposals must be received by TDI no later than 5:00 p.m. CT on January 6, 2027. Comments can be emailed to [email protected]. TDI will also hold a public hearing on December 11, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. CT at the Barbara Jordan State Office Building, 1601 Congress Avenue, Austin, Texas 78701, Room 2.035 (available remotely as well).
