87R2422 RDS-F
By: Guillen H.B. No. 3818
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to payments associated with certain medical examinations
under the workers' compensation system; imposing a fee.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 408.0041(h), Labor Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(h) In accordance with the adjusted payment amounts
prescribed by the commissioner under Section 408.00411, the [The]
insurance carrier shall pay [for]:
(1) for:
(A) an examination required under Subsection
(a), (f), or (f-2), unless otherwise prohibited by this subtitle or
by an order or rule of the commissioner; and
(B) [(2)] the reasonable expenses incident to
the employee in submitting to the examination; or
(2) if an employee fails or refuses to appear at the
time scheduled for an examination under Subsection (a) or (f), a fee
set by the commissioner in an amount not less than $100, to the
designated doctor or doctor selected by the insurance carrier, as
applicable.
SECTION 2. Subchapter A, Chapter 408, Labor Code, is
amended by adding Section 408.00411 to read as follows:
Sec. 408.00411. ADJUSTMENT OF CERTAIN EXAMINATION FEES AND
EXAMINATION NO-SHOW FEES. (a) Not later than January 31 of each
even-numbered year, the commissioner shall adjust for inflation in
accordance with Subsection (b) the amounts required to be paid by an
insurance carrier:
(1) for a medical examination under Section
408.0041(a), (f), or (f-2); and
(2) as a fee under Section 408.0041(h)(2) for the
failure or refusal of an employee to appear at the time scheduled
for a medical examination to which that subdivision applies.
(b) The commissioner shall compute the amount of an
adjustment under Subsection (a) based on the percentage increase,
if any, in the consumer price index for this state published by the
Bureau of Labor Statistics of the United States Department of Labor
for the preceding 24-month period ending January 1.
(c) An adjustment under this section takes effect beginning
March 1 of the year of the adjustment.
SECTION 3. Not later than January 31, 2022, the
commissioner of workers' compensation shall:
(1) set the initial amount of the fee under Section
408.0041(h)(2), Labor Code, as added by this Act; and
(2) make the initial adjustment to the amounts
required to be paid for a medical examination under Section
408.0041(a), (f), or (f-2), Labor Code, in accordance with Section
408.00411, Labor Code, as added by this Act.
SECTION 4. Not later than January 31, 2024, the
commissioner of workers' compensation shall make the initial
adjustment to the fee under Section 408.0041(h)(2), Labor Code, as
added by this Act, in accordance with Section 408.00411, Labor
Code, as added by this Act.
SECTION 5. The changes in law made by this Act to Section
408.0041, Labor Code, apply only to a medical examination that
occurs or is scheduled to occur, as applicable, on or after March 1,
2022. A medical examination that occurs or is scheduled to occur,
as applicable, 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 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.