The 2017 Texas Legislature: An Early Assessment of WC Bills

The Texas Legislature is one week away from the deadline for the unrestricted filing of proposed legislation. As of March 2, 2017, we are monitoring 34 bills that have been filed and that would affect the Texas workers’ compensation system.

Although there are likely to be several last minute filings before the March 10, 2017 filing deadline, we want to draw to your attention to five important bills that are currently on file and pending before the Texas Legislature.

HB 499 by Rep. Collier would create a statutory bad faith cause of action in workers’ compensation cases. In so doing, the bill would impinge on the Division of Workers’ Compensation’s jurisdiction to enforce violations of the act. It would effectively reverse the Texas Supreme Court decisions in Texas Mutual Ins. Co. v. Ruttiger and In re: Crawford & Company.

HB 1678 by Rep. Schofield would protect communications between workers’ compensation defense counsel and high-deductible employers from discovery through the recognition of a privilege for such communications. The bill would reverse the Texas Supreme Court decision in In re: XL Specialty Co.

HB 2055 by Rep. Oliveira provides that an eligible spouse is entitled to receive death benefits for life, regardless of whether the spouse remarries. The bill would deprive surviving children of the deceased employee of the right to a redistributed increase in death benefits that currently exists under the Act. The bill also serves to change the nature of workers’ compensation death benefits from an income replacement benefit for surviving spouses to a fixed-cap damage award.

HB 2061 by Rep. Oliveira would require more detailed notices to the Division when a party files suit for judicial review of a Division decision and order or proposes to resolve such a suit with the opposing party. The bill has the Division of Workers’ Compensation’s support. It proposes an extension of existing law that is designed to enhance the Division’s ability to monitor the progress and proposed resolution of cases after they have moved beyond the Division’s jurisdiction. This would enhance the agency’s ability to intervene and oppose proposed settlements such as occurred in TDI, DWC v. Jones. SB 876 by Sen. Hancock is a companion bill.

HB 2326 by Rep. Collier provides that a carrier must reimburse a treating doctor or doctor to whom the injured employee is referred by the treating doctor for the creation of a medical causation narrative report addressing an extent of injury issue if the carrier disputes the extent of an employee’s injury. The carrier must reimburse the provider regardless of whether the injured employee, a representative of the injured employee, or the insurance carrier requests the creation of the report. The bill has the support of the Office of Injured Employee Counsel. SB 1035 by Sen. Perry is a companion bill with very similar language.