Bill Text: TX SB2551 | 2019-2020 | 86th Legislature | Comm Sub

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Bill Title: Relating to liability, payment, and benefits for certain workers' compensation claims.

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Passed) 2019-06-10 - Effective immediately [SB2551 Detail]

Download: Texas-2019-SB2551-Comm_Sub.html

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By: Hinojosa S.B. No. 2551
(In the Senate - Filed April 22, 2019; April 23, 2019, read
first time and referred to Committee on Business & Commerce;
May 2, 2019, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 8, Nays 1; May 2, 2019, sent
to printer.)
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 2551 By: Creighton

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to liability, payment, and death benefits for certain
workers' compensation claims.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 607.055, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 607.055. CANCER. (a) A firefighter or emergency
medical technician who suffers from cancer resulting in death or
total or partial disability is presumed to have developed the
cancer during the course and scope of employment as a firefighter or
emergency medical technician if:
(1) the firefighter or emergency medical technician:
(A) regularly responded on the scene to calls
involving fires or fire fighting; or
(B) regularly responded to an event involving the
documented release of radiation or a known or suspected carcinogen
while the person was employed as a firefighter or emergency medical
technician; and
(2) the cancer is [known to be associated with fire
fighting or exposure to heat, smoke, radiation, or a known or
suspected carcinogen, as] described by Subsection (b).
(b) This section applies only to:
(1) cancer that originates at the stomach, colon,
rectum, skin, prostate, testis, or brain;
(2) non-Hodgkin's lymphoma;
(3) multiple myeloma;
(4) malignant melanoma; and
(5) renal cell carcinoma [a type of cancer that may be
caused by exposure to heat, smoke, radiation, or a known or
suspected carcinogen as determined by the International Agency for
Research on Cancer].
SECTION 2. Section 409.021, Labor Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (a-3) to read as follows:
(a-3) An insurance carrier is not required to comply with
Subsection (a) if the claim seeks to recover benefits under
Subchapter B, Chapter 607, Government Code, and, not later than the
15th day after the date on which the insurance carrier received
written notice of the injury, the insurance carrier has provided
the employee with a notice that describes the evidence the carrier
reasonably believes is necessary to complete its investigation of
the compensability of the injury. The commissioner shall adopt
rules as necessary to implement this subsection.
SECTION 3. Section 409.022, Labor Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (d-1) to read as follows:
(d-1) An insurance carrier has not committed an
administrative violation and has reasonable grounds for a refusal
to pay benefits if the carrier has sent notice to the employee as
required by Subsection (d) or Section 409.021(a-3).
SECTION 4. Section 415.021, Labor Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (c-2) to read as follows:
(c-2) In determining whether to assess any sanctions, an
administrative penalty, or another remedy authorized by this
subtitle, the commissioner shall consider whether:
(1) the employee has cooperated with the insurance
carrier's investigation of the claim; and
(2) the employee has timely authorized access to the
applicable medical records before the insurance carrier's
deadline:
(A) to begin payment of benefits; or
(B) to notify the division and the employee of
its refusal to pay benefits.
SECTION 5. Section 504.053(e), Labor Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(e) Nothing in this chapter waives sovereign immunity or
creates a new cause of action, except that a political subdivision
that self-insures either individually or collectively is liable
for:
(1) sanctions, administrative penalties, and other
remedies authorized under Chapter 415;
(2) attorney's fees as provided by Section 408.221(c);
and
(3) attorney's fees as provided by Section 417.003.
SECTION 6. Subchapter D, Chapter 504, Labor Code, is
amended by adding Section 504.074 to read as follows:
Sec. 504.074. SELF-INSURANCE ACCOUNT FOR CERTAIN DEATH
BENEFITS. (a) A pool or a political subdivision that self-insures
may establish an account for the payment of death benefits for a
compensable injury to a firefighter or emergency medical technician
described by Section 607.055, Government Code.
(b) An account established under this section may
accumulate assets in an amount that the pool or political
subdivision, in its sole discretion, determines is necessary in
order to pay death benefits described by Subsection (a). The
establishment of an account under this section or the amount of
assets accumulated in the account does not affect the liability of a
pool or political subdivision for the payment of death benefits.
(c) Chapter 2256, Government Code, does not apply to the
investment of assets in an account established under this section.
A pool or political subdivision investing or reinvesting the assets
of an account shall exercise the judgment and care, under the
circumstances, that a person of prudence, discretion, and
intelligence would exercise in the management of the person's own
affairs, considering the probable income to be derived and the
probable safety of capital. A determination of whether the pool or
political subdivision exercised prudence in making an investment
decision shall be made by considering the investment of all assets
of the account rather than by considering the prudence of a single
investment.
SECTION 7. Section 607.055, Government Code, as amended by
this Act, applies only to a claim for workers' compensation
benefits filed on or after the effective date of this Act. A claim
filed before that date is governed by the law as it existed on the
date the claim was filed, and the former law is continued in effect
for that purpose.
SECTION 8. The commissioner of workers' compensation shall
adopt the rules required by Section 409.021(a-3), Labor Code, as
added by this Act, as soon as practicable after the effective date
of this Act.
SECTION 9. (a) Section 504.053(e)(1), Labor Code, as added
by this Act, applies only to an administrative violation that
occurs on or after the effective date of this Act. An
administrative violation that occurs before the effective date of
this Act is governed by the law applicable to the violation
immediately before the effective date of this Act, and that law is
continued in effect for that purpose.
(b) Section 504.053(e)(2), Labor Code, as added by this Act,
applies only to a claim for workers' compensation benefits filed on
or after the effective date of this Act. A claim filed before the
effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the
date the claim was filed, and the former law is continued in effect
for that purpose.
SECTION 10. This Act takes effect immediately if it
receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each
house, as provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.
If this Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate
effect, this Act takes effect September 1, 2019.
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