By Solomons                                           H.B. No. 2506
         Substitute the following for H.B. No. 2506:
         By Solomons                                       C.S.H.B. No. 2506
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to the establishment of a pilot program regarding
 1-3     ancillary medical benefits under the workers' compensation system.
 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-5           SECTION 1.  Subchapter B, Chapter 408, Labor Code, is amended
 1-6     by adding Section 408.029 to read as follows:
 1-7           Sec. 408.029.  ANCILLARY MEDICAL SERVICES.  (a) The Research
 1-8     and Oversight Council on Workers' Compensation shall conduct a
 1-9     pilot program to permit employers to identify ancillary medical
1-10     service providers based on the recommendations and directions of
1-11     the employee's treating doctor.  The council shall appoint an
1-12     advisory group to direct the pilot.
1-13           (b)  The pilot program must include up to four employers
1-14     selected from each of the following categories:
1-15                 (1)  the state;
1-16                 (2)  political subdivisions of the state;
1-17                 (3)  commercially insured employers with premiums of at
1-18     least $250,000 annually;
1-19                 (4)  certified self-insured employers.
1-20           (c)  The council shall include the results of the review of
1-21     the pilot program in the council's biennial report filed under
1-22     Section 404.007 not later than December 31, 2000.
1-23           (d)  An employee of an employer participating in the pilot
1-24     program shall receive all ancillary medical services identified by
 2-1     the employer or the employer's designee if the service can be
 2-2     provided within a reasonable travel distance.
 2-3           (e)  Ancillary medical services in addition to the health
 2-4     care to which an employee is entitled under Section 408.021 include
 2-5     the following services:
 2-6                 (1)  all physical and occupational therapy;
 2-7                 (2)  work hardening and work conditioning;
 2-8                 (3)  pain management, biofeedback, psychological
 2-9     counseling by other than a physician, functional capacity
2-10     evaluations;
2-11                 (4)  diagnostics, imaging, and testing excluding plain
2-12     film x-rays;
2-13                 (5)  home health services; and
2-14                 (6)  durable medical equipment.
2-15           SECTION 2.  (a) This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
2-16           (b)  The change in law made by this Act applies only to a
2-17     claim for workers' compensation benefits filed with the Texas
2-18     Workers' Compensation Commission on or after the effective date of
2-19     this Act.  A claim filed before the effective date of this Act is
2-20     governed by the law in effect on the date the claim was filed, and
2-21     the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
2-22           SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the
2-23     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-24     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-25     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-26     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.