87R7871 JSC-F
By: Patterson H.B. No. 2502
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to lifetime income benefits under the workers'
compensation system.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 408.061, Labor Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (g) and adding Subsection (h) to read as
follows:
(g) Except as otherwise provided by Subsection (h), the
[The] maximum weekly income benefit in effect on the date of injury
is applicable for the entire time that the benefit is payable.
(h) For a claim for lifetime income benefits by an employee
who is a first responder as defined by Section 504.055, the maximum
weekly income benefit in effect on the date the claim for lifetime
income benefits is finally adjudicated by the division or a court,
as applicable, is applicable for the entire time that the benefit is
payable.
SECTION 2. Sections 408.161(a) and (c), Labor Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(a) Lifetime income benefits are paid until the death of the
employee for:
(1) total and permanent loss of sight in both eyes;
(2) loss of both feet at or above the ankle;
(3) loss of both hands at or above the wrist;
(4) loss of one foot at or above the ankle and the loss
of one hand at or above the wrist;
(5) an injury to the spine that results in:
(A) permanent and complete paralysis of both
arms, both legs, or one arm and one leg; or
(B) substantial paralysis to the extent that the
employee must use a wheelchair for mobility, regardless of whether
minimal movement of an affected limb is possible;
(6) a physically traumatic injury to the brain
resulting in the person having an incurable mental illness or
intellectual disability [insanity or imbecility]; or
(7) third degree burns that cover at least 40 percent
of the body and require grafting, or third degree burns covering the
majority of either both hands or one hand and the face.
(c) Subject to Section 408.061, the amount of lifetime
income benefits is equal to 75 percent of the employee's average
weekly wage or, if the employee is a first responder as defined by
Section 504.055, 100 percent of the employee's average weekly wage.
Benefits being paid shall be increased at a rate of three percent a
year notwithstanding Section 408.061.
SECTION 3. The changes in law made by this Act apply to a
claim for lifetime income benefits based on a compensable injury
that occurs on or after the effective date of this Act. A claim
based on a compensable injury that occurs before the effective date
of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the
compensable injury occurred, and the former law is continued in
effect for that purpose.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.