By: Zedler H.B. No. 2629
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to utilizing the range of motion model incorporated into
the 4th Edition of the American Medical Association Guides to
determine the impairment rating of the lumbar spine.
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:
Sec. 408.124. IMPAIRMENT RATING GUIDELINES. (a) An award
of an impairment income benefit, whether by the commissioner or a
court, must be based on an impairment rating determined using the
impairment rating guidelines described by this section.
(b) For determining the existence and degree of an
employee's impairment, the division shall use "Guides to the
Evaluation of Permanent Impairment," third edition, second
printing, dated February 1989, published by the American Medical
Association.
(c) Notwithstanding Subsection (b), the commissioner by
rule may adopt the fourth edition of the "Guides to the Evaluation
of Permanent Impairment," published by the American Medical
Association, or a subsequent edition of those guides, for
determining the existence and degree of an employee's impairment.
(d) The Division shall use the range of motion model from
the fourth edition of
the "Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent
Impairment" to determine impairment for all lumbar injuries rather
than the injury or diagnosis-related estimates model regardless of
the which edition of the Guides the Division adopts pursuant to
subsection (b) or (c) of this section.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.