88R10077 RDS-F
By: Guillen H.B. No. 2702
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 and place 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 beginning 2026, 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 and place
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 Medicare Economic Index 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.
(d) Not later than January 31, 2024, the commissioner shall
adjust for inflation in accordance with this subsection the amounts
required to be paid by an insurance carrier for a medical
examination under Section 408.0041(a), (f), or (f-2). The
commissioner shall compute the amount of the adjustment based on
the percentage increase, if any, in the Medicare Economic Index for
the period beginning on the date that the fee was last set or
adjusted by the commissioner and ending January 1, 2024. This
subsection expires January 1, 2025.
SECTION 3. Not later than January 31, 2024, the
commissioner of workers' compensation shall set the initial amount
of the fee under Section 408.0041(h)(2), Labor Code, as added by
this Act.
SECTION 4. Not later than January 31, 2026, 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,
2024. 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, 2023.