HBA-ATS H.B. 3493 76(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 3493
By: Dunnam
Business & Industry
3/26/1999
Introduced



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

The Labor Code provides a formal dispute resolution process to resolve
benefit-related disagreements between injured employees and their
employer's workers' compensation insurance carrier.  A contested case
hearing is a part of that process.  The hearing is conducted by an employee
of the Texas Workers' Compensation Commission (commission).  During the
contested case hearing, each party presents its side of the dispute and may
question witnesses and introduce evidence to support its case.  After
examining the evidence and testimony, if any, the hearing officer issues a
decision on the dispute. 

If either party disagrees with the hearing officer's decision, the decision
may be appealed to the commissions' Appeals Panel (panel) within 15 days
after the decision of the hearing officer is handed down. The panel reviews
the decision and the record from the contested case hearing.  The panel
issues its decision, either upholding the hearing officer's decision,
overturning the decision and rendering its judgment, or ordering that a
second contested case hearing be held on the dispute. A party who is
aggrieved by a final decision of the panel may seek judicial review not
later than the 40th day after the date on which the decision of the appeals
panel was filed with the commission's division of hearings.  A party who
sues must simultaneously file a copy of the petition with the court and the
commission and serve it on any opposing party.  If the party does not know
the true name of the opposing party (usually it is an employee who does not
know an insurer's true name because a different one may have been used
throughout the dispute resolution process), it may not be possible to serve
that party within 40 days. 

H.B. 3493  requires that each final decision of the appeals panel hearing a
workers' compensation claim conclude with a separate paragraph that states:
"The true corporate name of the insurance carrier is (NAME IN BOLD PRINT)
and the name and address of its registered agent for service of process is
(NAME AND ADDRESS IN BOLD PRINT)." 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does
not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state
officer, department, agency, or institution. 

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

SECTION 1.  Amends Section 410.204, Labor Code, by adding Subsection (d),
as follows: 

(d) Requires that each final decision of the appeals panel hearing a
workers' compensation claim conclude with a separate paragraph that states:
"The true corporate name of the insurance carrier is (NAME IN BOLD PRINT)
and the name and address of its registered agent for service of process is
(NAME AND ADDRESS IN BOLD PRINT)." 

SECTION 2.  Effective date: September 1, 1999.
            Makes application of this Act prospective.

SECTION 3.  Emergency clause.