76R10658 PB-F
By George, Dukes H.B. No. 2508
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 2508:
By George C.S.H.B. No. 2508
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the determination and payment of certain workers'
1-3 compensation benefits.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 408.081, Labor Code, is amended to read
1-6 as follows:
1-7 Sec. 408.081. INCOME BENEFITS. (a) An employee is entitled
1-8 to income benefits as provided in this chapter.
1-9 (b) Except as otherwise provided by this section or this
1-10 subtitle, income benefits and interest on accrued but unpaid income
1-11 benefits shall be paid weekly as and when they accrue without
1-12 order from the commission.
1-13 (c) The commission by rule shall establish requirements for
1-14 agreements under which income benefits may be paid monthly. Income
1-15 benefits may be paid monthly only on the mutual agreement of the
1-16 employee and the insurance carrier and in compliance with the
1-17 requirements adopted by the commission.
1-18 (d) An employee's entitlement to income benefits under this
1-19 chapter terminates on the death of the employee. An interest in
1-20 future income benefits does not survive after the employee's death.
1-21 SECTION 2. Section 408.103, Labor Code, is amended by
1-22 amending Subsections (a), (b), and (d) and adding Subsection (f) to
1-23 read as follows:
1-24 (a) Except as otherwise provided by this section, the amount
2-1 of temporary income benefits is subject [Subject] to Sections
2-2 408.061 and 408.062. The[, the] amount of a temporary income
2-3 benefit is equal to:
2-4 (1) 70 percent of the amount computed by subtracting
2-5 the employee's weekly earnings after the injury from the employee's
2-6 average weekly wage; or
2-7 (2) for the first 26 weeks, 75 percent of the amount
2-8 computed by subtracting the employee's weekly earnings after the
2-9 injury from the employee's average weekly wage if the employee
2-10 earns less than $8.50 an hour.
2-11 (b) A temporary income benefit under Subsection (a)(2) may
2-12 not exceed the employee's actual earnings for the previous year.
2-13 It is presumed that the employee's actual earnings for the previous
2-14 year are equal to:
2-15 (1) the sum of the employee's wages as reported in the
2-16 most recent four quarterly wage reports to the Texas Workforce
2-17 [Employment] Commission divided by 52;
2-18 (2) the employee's wages in the single quarter of the
2-19 most recent four quarters in which the employee's earnings were
2-20 highest, divided by 13, if the commission finds that the employee's
2-21 most recent four quarters' earnings reported in the Texas Workforce
2-22 [Employment] Commission wage reports are not representative of the
2-23 employee's usual earnings; or
2-24 (3) the amount the commission determines from other
2-25 credible evidence to be the actual earnings for the previous year
2-26 if the Texas Workforce [Employment] Commission does not have a wage
2-27 report reflecting at least one quarter's earnings because the
3-1 employee worked outside the state during the previous year.
3-2 (d) The Texas Workforce [Employment] Commission shall
3-3 provide information required under this section in the manner most
3-4 efficient for transferring the information.
3-5 (f) If an employee has returned to work at a reduced wage,
3-6 the amount of the temporary income benefit is computed as specified
3-7 by Subsection (a), but the minimum weekly income benefit
3-8 established under Section 408.062 does not apply.
3-9 SECTION 3. Section 408.124, Labor Code, is amended by
3-10 amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (c) to read as
3-11 follows:
3-12 (b) For [The commission shall use for] determining the
3-13 existence and degree of an employee's impairment, the commission
3-14 shall use "Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment,"
3-15 fourth [third] edition, [second printing, dated February 1989,]
3-16 published by the American Medical Association. For determining
3-17 the existence and degree of an employee's impairment relating to a
3-18 back injury, the commission shall use the range of motion model
3-19 contained in that publication.
3-20 (c) Notwithstanding Subsection (b), the commission by rule
3-21 may adopt a later edition of the "Guides to the Evaluation of
3-22 Permanent Impairment" or its successor publication as published by
3-23 the American Medical Association or another analogous publication
3-24 published by a nationally recognized medical organization as
3-25 necessary to appropriately determine the existence and degree of an
3-26 employee's impairment for purposes of this title.
3-27 SECTION 4. Section 408.161, Labor Code, is amended by adding
4-1 Subsection (d) to read as follows:
4-2 (d) An insurance carrier may pay lifetime income benefits
4-3 through an annuity if the annuity agreement meets the terms and
4-4 conditions for annuity agreements adopted by the commission by
4-5 rule. The establishment of an annuity under this subsection does
4-6 not relieve the insurance carrier of the liability under this title
4-7 for ensuring that the lifetime income benefits are paid.
4-8 SECTION 5. Section 408.181, Labor Code, is amended by adding
4-9 Subsections (c) and (d) to read as follows:
4-10 (c) The commission by rule shall establish requirements for
4-11 agreements under which death benefits may be paid monthly. Death
4-12 benefits may be paid monthly only on the mutual agreement of the
4-13 legal beneficiary and the insurance carrier and in compliance with
4-14 the requirements adopted by the commission.
4-15 (d) An insurance carrier may pay death benefits through an
4-16 annuity if the annuity agreement meets the terms and conditions for
4-17 annuity agreements adopted by the commission by rule. The
4-18 establishment of an annuity under this subsection does not relieve
4-19 the insurance carrier of the liability under this title for
4-20 ensuring that the death benefits are paid.
4-21 SECTION 6. Section 408.186(a), Labor Code, is amended to
4-22 read as follows:
4-23 (a) If the death of an employee results from a compensable
4-24 injury, the insurance carrier shall pay to the person who incurred
4-25 liability for the costs of burial the lesser of:
4-26 (1) the actual costs incurred for reasonable burial
4-27 expenses; or
5-1 (2) $6,000 [$2,500].
5-2 SECTION 7. (a) This Act takes effect September 1, 1999, and
5-3 applies only to an agreement regarding payment of workers'
5-4 compensation income benefits or death benefits that is entered into
5-5 on or after that date.
5-6 (b) Section 408.103, Labor Code, as amended by this Act,
5-7 applies only to a claim for workers' compensation temporary income
5-8 benefits based on a compensable injury that occurs on or after the
5-9 effective date of this Act. A claim based on a compensable injury
5-10 that occurs before that date is governed by the law in effect on
5-11 the date that the compensable injury occurred, and the former law
5-12 is continued in effect for that purpose.
5-13 (c) Section 408.124, Labor Code, as amended by this Act,
5-14 applies only to determination of an impairment rating for workers'
5-15 compensation benefits under Subchapter G, Chapter 408, Labor Code,
5-16 on or after January 1, 2000. The determination of an impairment
5-17 rating before that date is governed by the law in effect
5-18 immediately before the effective date of this Act, and the former
5-19 law is continued in effect for that purpose.
5-20 (d) Section 408.186(a), Labor Code, as amended by this Act,
5-21 applies only to a claim for workers' compensation burial benefits
5-22 based on a compensable injury that occurs on or after the effective
5-23 date of this Act. A claim based on a compensable injury that
5-24 occurs before that date is governed by the law in effect on the
5-25 date that the compensable injury occurred, and the former law is
5-26 continued in effect for that purpose.
5-27 SECTION 8. The importance of this legislation and the
6-1 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
6-2 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
6-3 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
6-4 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.