Rules Proposed for TIBs Benefit Increases

The Texas Department of Insurance, Division of Workers’ Compensation (TDI-DWC) is accepting public comments on proposed amendments to 28 Texas Administrative Code (TAC) §129.3 and §129.11.

If you want to comment on the proposal, submit your written comments by 5:00 p.m. central time on Monday, November 9, 2015. A request for public hearing must be sent separately from your written comments. Send written comments or hearing requests by email to Rulecomments@tdi.texas.gov or by mail to:

Texas Department of Insurance, Division of Workers’ Compensation Maria Jimenez
Workers’ Compensation Counsel MS – 4D
7551 Metro Center Drive, Suite 100
Austin, Texas 78744-1645

If a hearing is held, TDI-DWC will consider written comments and public testimony presented at the hearing.

The proposal will be published in the October 9, 2015 issue of the Texas Register and will be available at www.sos.state.tx.us/texreg/index.shtml once published. A courtesy copy will also be available on the TDI website at www.tdi.texas.gov/wc/rules/proposedrules/index.html.

Proposed amendments to §129.3(b), 129.3(f)(2), and 129.11(b) increase the hourly wage that qualifies an injured employee to be paid at the higher TIBs rate of 75% of the employee’s pre-injury average weekly wage for the first 26 weeks of disability. Amended §§129.3(b), §129.3(f)(1), and §129.11(b)(1) clarify that the $8.50 rate still applies to workers’ compensation claims with a date of injury before September 1, 2015.