DWC Adopts Rule on Verification of Lifetime Income Benefits (LIBs) Recipient Information by the Subsequent Injury Fund (SIF)
On February 3, 2025, DWC General Counsel Kara Mace announced that DWC adopted new DWC Rule 131.5, concerning Subsequent Injury Fund (SIF) verification of lifetime income benefits (LIBs) recipient information.
She explained that the new rule is necessary in order to “prevent the waste of public funds by notifying DWC of the employee’s death before the SIF issues a LIBs payment to the employee.”
Sec. 408.162 of the WC Act provides that if a subsequent compensable injury, with the effects of a previous injury, results in a condition for which the injured employee is entitled to LIBs, the Carrier is liable for the payment of benefits for the subsequent injury only to the extent that the subsequent injury would have entitled the employee to benefits had the previous injury not existed. And in that event SIF “shall compensate the employee for the remainder of the lifetime income benefits to which the employee is entitled.”
DWC Rule 131.3 then explains how Carrier can petition SIF to pay those benefits.
After the comment period, DWC agreed to add a sentence to the original draft rule to clarify that, if the injured employee is unable to provide the required information, the SIF will hold any pending benefit payments until verification is complete.
New Rule 131.5 will be effective on February 18, 2025.
The rule will be published in the February 14, 2025, issue of the Texas Register and available at www.sos.state.tx.us/texreg/index.shtml once published. DWC will also post a copy of the rule on the website at www.tdi.texas.gov/wc/rules/2025rules.html.
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