By: Davis of Dallas, Ramos H.B. No. 741
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to rights and benefits
under the Texas workers'
compensation system.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 404.109, Labor Code, is amended to read
as follows:
Sec. 404.109. INJURED EMPLOYEE RIGHTS; NOTICE. (a) The
public counsel shall adopt, in the form and manner prescribed by the
public counsel and after consultation with the commissioner of
workers' compensation, a notice of injured employee rights and
responsibilities to be distributed by the division as provided by
commissioner or commissioner of insurance rules.
(b) The notice adopted under Subsection (a) must inform an
injured employee that the employee has the right to choose a
treating doctor, including a doctor of medicine, osteopathic
medicine, optometry, dentistry, podiatry, or chiropractic who is
licensed and authorized to practice.
(c) A right or responsibility included in the notice adopted
under Subsection (a) [this section] must be consistent with the
requirements of this subtitle and division rules.
(d) This section may not be construed as establishing an
entitlement to benefits to which the claimant is not otherwise
entitled under this subtitle.
SECTION 2. Section 408.183(b-1), Labor Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b-1) Notwithstanding Subsection (b), an eligible spouse
who remarried is eligible for death benefits for life if the
employee was a first responder, as defined by Section 504.055, or an
individual described by Section 615.003(1), Government Code, or
Section 501.001(5)(F) of this code, who suffered death in the
course and scope of employment or while providing services as a
volunteer. This subsection applies regardless of the date on which
the death of the first responder or other individual occurred.
SECTION 3. The public counsel of the office of injured
employee counsel shall adopt the notice required under Section
404.109, Labor Code, as amended by this Act, not later than December
1, 2019.
SECTION 4. The change in law made by this Act to Section
408.183(b-1), Labor Code, applies only to an eligible spouse who
remarries on or after the effective date of this Act. An eligible
spouse who remarried before that date is governed by the law as it
existed immediately before the effective date of this Act, and the
former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.