| 1 | 1 | | By: Duncan S.B. No. 800 |
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| 2 | 2 | | (Elkins) |
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| 3 | 3 | | |
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| 4 | 4 | | |
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| 5 | 5 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 6 | 6 | | AN ACT |
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| 7 | 7 | | relating to the qualifications and operations of workers' |
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| 8 | 8 | | compensation data collection agents. |
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| 9 | 9 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 10 | 10 | | SECTION 1. Section 401.024, Labor Code, is amended by |
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| 11 | 11 | | amending Subsection (c) and adding Subsections (e), (f), and (g) to |
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| 12 | 12 | | read as follows: |
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| 13 | 13 | | (c) The commissioner may designate and contract with one or |
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| 14 | 14 | | more [a] data collection agents [agent] to fulfill the data |
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| 15 | 15 | | collection requirements of this subtitle. To qualify as a data |
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| 16 | 16 | | collection agent, an organization must demonstrate at least five |
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| 17 | 17 | | years of experience in data collection, data maintenance, data |
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| 18 | 18 | | quality control, accounting, and related areas. |
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| 19 | 19 | | (e) A data collection agent may collect from a reporting |
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| 20 | 20 | | insurance carrier, other than a governmental entity, any fees |
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| 21 | 21 | | necessary for the agent to recover the necessary and reasonable |
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| 22 | 22 | | costs of collecting data from that reporting insurance carrier. |
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| 23 | 23 | | (f) A reporting insurance carrier, other than a |
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| 24 | 24 | | governmental entity, shall pay the fee to the data collection agent |
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| 25 | 25 | | for the data collection services provided by the data collection |
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| 26 | 26 | | agent. |
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| 27 | 27 | | (g) The commissioner may adopt rules necessary to implement |
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| 28 | 28 | | this section. |
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| 29 | 29 | | SECTION 2. Subsection (c), Section 406.009, Labor Code, is |
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| 30 | 30 | | amended to read as follows: |
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| 31 | 31 | | (c) The commissioner may designate a data collection agent, |
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| 32 | 32 | | implement an electronic reporting and public information access |
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| 33 | 33 | | program, and adopt rules as necessary to implement the data |
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| 34 | 34 | | collection requirements of this subchapter. The commissioner may |
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| 35 | 35 | | establish the form, manner, and procedure for the transmission of |
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| 36 | 36 | | information to the division. A data collection agent designated |
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| 37 | 37 | | under this subsection must be qualified and may collect fees in the |
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| 38 | 38 | | manner described by Section 401.024. |
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| 39 | 39 | | SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives |
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| 40 | 40 | | a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as |
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| 41 | 41 | | provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this |
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| 42 | 42 | | Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this |
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| 43 | 43 | | Act takes effect September 1, 2011. |
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