83R22082 JSC-D
 
  By: Zedler H.B. No. 2629
 
  Substitute the following for H.B. No. 2629:
 
  By:  Rodriguez of Travis C.S.H.B. No. 2629
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the determination of the impairment rating of an
  employee with a lumbar injury under the workers' compensation
  system.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 408.124, Labor Code, is amended by
  adding Subsection (d) to read as follows:
         (d)  Notwithstanding Subsections (b) and (c), for
  determining the existence and degree of an employee's impairment
  related to a lumbar injury, the division shall use the range of
  motion model in "Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment," 
  Fourth Edition, dated June 1993, published by the American Medical
  Association.
         SECTION 2.  The change in law made by this Act applies only
  to an assignment of an impairment rating that is made on or after
  the effective date of this Act. An assignment that is made before
  the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on
  the date the assignment was made, and the former law is continued in
  effect for that purpose.
         SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.