By Van de Putte                                       S.B. No. 1151
         77R8054 JMM-D                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to the duties of employers and insurance carriers in a
 1-3     workers' compensation proceeding.
 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-5           SECTION 1. Subchapter C, Chapter 401, Labor Code, is amended
 1-6     by adding Section 401.025 to read as follows:
 1-7           Sec. 401.025.  OBLIGATIONS OF EMPLOYERS AND INSURANCE
 1-8     CARRIERS. (a)  Under this subtitle, an employer has the duty to:
 1-9                 (1)  inform each employee of the benefits, both
1-10     monetary and medical, to which the employee is entitled and to
1-11     assist an injured employee in submitting required forms;
1-12                 (2)  inform an employee of the right to medical care
1-13     that is reasonable and necessary to treat the employee's
1-14     work-related injury or illness for the rest of the employee's life;
1-15                 (3)  inform an injured employee of the right to choose
1-16     the employee's doctor and of the right to change the treating
1-17     doctor;
1-18                 (4)  inform an employee of the right to legal
1-19     representation and of the right to assistance from the commission's
1-20     ombudsman;
1-21                 (5)  inform an employee of the right to the
1-22     confidentiality of records;
1-23                 (6)  refrain from engaging in retaliatory action
1-24     against an employee who asserts the employee's rights under this
 2-1     subtitle;
 2-2                 (7)  provide information and assistance to an employee
 2-3     in the employee's language of choice; and
 2-4                 (8)  provide information to an employee orally if the
 2-5     employee is unable to read or to comprehend the employee's rights.
 2-6           (b)  Under this subtitle, an insurance carrier has the duty
 2-7     to:
 2-8                 (1)  disclose the carrier's identity for the purpose of
 2-9     gathering data or information pertinent to an injured employee's
2-10     claim;
2-11                 (2)  notify an injured employee of the employee's right
2-12     to be represented by an attorney to represent the employee's
2-13     interests if the carrier is represented by an attorney at any
2-14     hearing or trial;
2-15                 (3)  disclose any investigation surveillance to the
2-16     injured employee and the commission;
2-17                 (4)  maintain in a permanent file the name and license
2-18     or registration number of any investigator and to make that
2-19     information available to the employee at a hearing or conference;
2-20                 (5)  ensure that any investigation by the carrier is
2-21     performed by an investigator holding the proper license or
2-22     registration from the Texas Commission on Private Security; and
2-23                 (6)  provide health care without making:
2-24                       (A)  any financial incentives to health care
2-25     providers; and
2-26                       (B)  a payment to a physician or other health
2-27     care provider that serves as an inducement to limit medically
 3-1     necessary services.
 3-2           (c)  The commission shall report a violation of Subsection
 3-3     (b)(5) to the Texas Commission on Private Security.
 3-4           SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
 3-5     a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
 3-6     provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.  If this
 3-7     Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
 3-8     Act takes effect September 1, 2001.