87R11941 JSC-D
By: Turner of Tarrant H.B. No. 4038
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to eligibility for lifetime income benefits under the
workers' compensation system.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 408.161(a), Labor Code, is 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 permanent
and complete paralysis of both arms, both legs, or one arm and one
leg;
(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; or
(8) adhesive arachnoiditis.
SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only
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 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.