87(R) SB 439 - Introduced version - Bill Text

	87R610 KKR-D
	By:  Blanco	S.B.  No.  439

	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
	AN ACT
	relating to the eligibility of nurses for workers' compensation
	benefits for coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and payment of those
	benefits.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION  1.    Subchapter A, Chapter 408, Labor Code, is
	amended by adding Section 408.009 to read as follows:
	Sec.  408.009.    PRESUMPTION OF COMPENSABILITY OF CORONAVIRUS
	DISEASE (COVID-19) FOR NURSES. (a) In this section, "nurse" means
	an individual licensed under Chapter 301, Occupations Code.
	(b)    A nurse, including a nurse employed by a state agency or
	a political subdivision of this state, who suffers from coronavirus
	disease (COVID-19) on or after February 1, 2020, resulting in
	disability or death is presumed to have contracted the disease
	during the course and scope of employment as a nurse if the nurse:
	(1)    is assigned:
	(A)    to treat a patient diagnosed with the
	disease; or
	(B)    to duties that require the nurse to come in
	contact with a patient diagnosed with the disease; and
	(2)    contracts the disease during the patient's
	admission to the health care facility at which the nurse treated or
	came in contact with the patient or not later than the 14th day
	following the date of the patient's discharge from the facility.
	SECTION  2.    Section 409.021(a-3), Labor Code, is amended to
	read as follows:
	(a-3)    An insurance carrier is not required to comply with
	Subsection (a) if the claim results from an employee's disability
	or death for which a presumption is claimed to be applicable under
	Section 408.009 of this code or Subchapter B, Chapter 607,
	Government Code, and, not later than the 15th day after the date on
	which the insurance carrier received written notice of the injury,
	the insurance carrier has provided the employee and the division
	with a notice that describes all steps taken by the insurance
	carrier to investigate the injury before the notice was given and
	the evidence the carrier reasonably believes is necessary to
	complete its investigation of the compensability of the
	injury.    The commissioner shall adopt rules as necessary to
	implement this subsection.
	SECTION  3.    Section 415.021(c-2), Labor Code, is amended to
	read as follows:
	(c-2)    In determining whether to assess an administrative
	penalty involving a claim in which the insurance carrier provided
	notice under Section 409.021(a-3), the commissioner shall consider
	whether:
	(1)    the employee cooperated with the insurance
	carrier's investigation of the claim;
	(2)    the employee timely authorized access to the
	applicable medical records before the insurance carrier's deadline
	to:
	(A)    begin payment of benefits; or
	(B)    notify the division and the employee of the
	insurance carrier's refusal to pay benefits; and
	(3)    the insurance carrier conducted an investigation
	of the claim, applied the statutory presumptions under Section
	408.009 of this code or Subchapter B, Chapter 607, Government Code,
	and expedited medical benefits under Section 504.055.
	SECTION  4.    (a) Except as otherwise provided by this
	section,  Section 408.009, Labor Code, as added by this Act, applies
	only to a claim for workers' compensation benefits filed on or after
	the effective date of this Act. A claim filed before that date is
	governed by the law as it existed on the date the claim was filed,
	and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
	(b)    A person who on or after February 1, 2020, but before the
	effective date of this Act, filed a claim for workers' compensation
	benefits related to coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and whose claim
	was subsequently denied may file another claim on or after the
	effective date of this Act, and the changes in law made by this Act
	apply to that claim.
	SECTION  5.    This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.    If this
	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
	Act takes effect September 1, 2021.