LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD
Austin, Texas
 
FISCAL NOTE, 87TH LEGISLATIVE REGULAR SESSION
 
April 18, 2021

TO:
Honorable Chris Turner, Chair, House Committee on Business & Industry
 
FROM:
Jerry McGinty, Director, Legislative Budget Board
 
IN RE:
HB3042 by Patterson (Relating to the adoption and review of certain workers' compensation guidelines, protocols, and formulary.), As Introduced


Estimated Two-year Net Impact to General Revenue Related Funds for HB3042, As Introduced : an impact of $0 through the biennium ending August 31, 2023.

General Revenue-Related Funds, Five- Year Impact:

Fiscal Year Probable Net Positive/(Negative) Impact to
General Revenue Related Funds
2022$0
2023$0
2024$0
2025$0
2026$0

All Funds, Five-Year Impact:

Fiscal Year Probable Savings/(Cost) from
Dept Ins Operating Acct
36
Probable Revenue Gain/(Loss) from
Dept Ins Operating Acct
36
2022($600,000)$600,000
2023($600,000)$600,000
2024$0$0
2025$0$0
2026$0$0


Fiscal Analysis

The bill would amend the Labor Code relating to the adoption and review of certain workers' compensation guidelines, protocols, and formulary. The bill requires the Division of Workers' Compensation (DWC) at the Department of Insurance (TDI) to contract with an independent entity to conduct a comparative evaluation of the adopted workers' compensation treatment guidelines, return-to-work guidelines, individual treatment guidelines, and the adopted pharmacy formulary. The report must be submitted to the Commissioner of Workers' Compensation to determine if changes to these guidelines needs to be made. In addition to comparing and evaluating existing guidelines and formularies, the study would also require an actuarial analysis to determine what the overall impact of any changes to the adopted guidelines or the pharmacy formulary would be to the workers' compensation system.

Methodology

Based on information provided by the Texas Department of Insurance and on DWC contracting experience, DWC anticipates the cost of a contract for an independent entity to complete the comparative analysis to cost between $0.8 million and $1.2 million.

Due to the self-leveling nature of the TDI operating account, any increases in expenditures would be reflected in the annual adjustment of the maintenance tax rates for insurance carriers. Therefore, the overall revenue into the TDI operating account will be equal to expenses.


Local Government Impact

No fiscal implication to units of local government is anticipated.


Source Agencies:
454 Department of Insurance
LBB Staff:
JMc, SZ, MB, MPUK