Bill Text: TX SB22 | 2021-2022 | 87th Legislature | Engrossed

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Relating to certain claims for benefits, compensation, or assistance by certain public safety employees and survivors of certain public safety employees.

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Passed) 2021-06-14 - Effective immediately [SB22 Detail]

Download: Texas-2021-SB22-Engrossed.html

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By: Springer, et al. S.B. No. 22

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to certain claims for benefits or compensation by certain
public safety employees.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 607.002, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 607.002. REIMBURSEMENT. (a) A public safety employee
who is exposed to a contagious disease is entitled to reimbursement
from the employing governmental entity for reasonable medical
expenses incurred in treatment for the prevention of the disease
if:
(1) the disease is not an "ordinary disease of life" as
that term is used in the context of a workers' compensation claim;
(2) the exposure to the disease occurs during the
course of the employment; and
(3) the employee requires preventative medical
treatment because of exposure to the disease.
(b) For purposes of this section, a disease is not an
"ordinary disease of life" if the disease is the basis for a
disaster declared by the governor under Section 418.014 for all or
part of the state.
SECTION 2. The heading to Subchapter B, Chapter 607,
Government Code, is amended to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER B. DISEASES OR ILLNESSES SUFFERED BY DETENTION
OFFICERS, FIREFIGHTERS, PEACE OFFICERS, AND EMERGENCY MEDICAL
TECHNICIANS
SECTION 3. Section 607.051, Government Code, is amended by
amending Subdivision (1) and adding Subdivision (1-a) to read as
follows:
(1) "Detention officer" means:
(A) a corrections officer employed by the Texas
Department of Criminal Justice; or
(B) a person employed as a county jail guard
under Section 85.005, Local Government Code, and licensed under
Chapter 1701, Occupations Code.
(1-a) "Disability" means partial or total disability.
SECTION 4. Sections 607.052(a), (b), (e), and (g),
Government Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) Notwithstanding any other law, this subchapter applies
only to a detention officer, firefighter, peace officer, or
emergency medical technician who:
(1) on becoming employed or during employment as a
detention officer, firefighter, peace officer, or emergency
medical technician, received a physical examination that failed to
reveal evidence of the illness or disease for which benefits or
compensation are sought using a presumption established by this
subchapter;
(2) is employed for five or more years as a
firefighter, peace officer, or emergency medical technician,
except for purposes of the presumption under Section 607.0545; and
(3) seeks benefits or compensation for a disease or
illness covered by this subchapter that is discovered during
employment as a detention officer, firefighter, peace officer, or
emergency medical technician.
(b) A presumption under this subchapter does not apply:
(1) to a determination of a survivor's eligibility for
benefits under Chapter 615;
(2) in a cause of action brought in a state or federal
court except for judicial review of a proceeding in which there has
been a grant or denial of employment-related benefits or
compensation;
(3) to a determination regarding benefits or
compensation under a life or disability insurance policy purchased
by or on behalf of the detention officer, firefighter, peace
officer, or emergency medical technician that provides coverage in
addition to any benefits or compensation required by law; or
(4) if the disease or illness for which benefits or
compensation is sought is known to be caused by the use of tobacco
and:
(A) the firefighter, peace officer, or emergency
medical technician is or has been a user of tobacco; or
(B) the firefighter's, peace officer's, or
emergency medical technician's spouse has, during the marriage,
been a user of tobacco that is consumed through smoking.
(e) A detention officer, firefighter, peace officer, or
emergency medical technician who uses a presumption established
under this subchapter is entitled only to the benefits or
compensation to which the detention officer, firefighter, peace
officer, or emergency medical technician would otherwise be
entitled to receive at the time the claim for benefits or
compensation is filed.
(g) This subchapter applies to a detention officer,
firefighter, peace officer, or emergency medical technician who
provides services as an employee of an entity created by an
interlocal agreement.
SECTION 5. Subchapter B, Chapter 607, Government Code, is
amended by adding Section 607.0545 to read as follows:
Sec. 607.0545. DISEASES THAT CAUSE A DISASTER DECLARATION.
(a) A detention officer, firefighter, peace officer, or emergency
medical technician who contracts a disease that is the basis for a
disaster declared by the governor under Section 418.014 or other
law for all or part of the state that results in death or total or
partial disability is presumed to have contracted the disease
during the course and scope of employment as a detention officer,
firefighter, peace officer, or emergency medical technician if the
detention officer, firefighter, peace officer, or emergency
medical technician:
(1) is employed in the area designated in the disaster
declaration; and
(2) contracts the disease during the disaster declared
by the governor.
(b) The presumption under this section applies only to a
claim for benefits or compensation filed before the first
anniversary of the date the state of disaster described by
Subsection (a) is terminated.
SECTION 6. Section 607.057, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 607.057. EFFECT OF PRESUMPTION. Except as provided by
Section 607.052(b), a presumption established under this
subchapter applies to a determination of whether a detention
officer's, firefighter's, peace officer's, or emergency medical
technician's disability or death resulted from a disease or illness
contracted in the course and scope of employment for purposes of
benefits or compensation provided under another employee benefit,
law, or plan, including a pension plan.
SECTION 7. Section 607.058, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 607.058. PRESUMPTION REBUTTABLE. (a) A presumption
under Section 607.053, 607.054, 607.0545, 607.055, or 607.056 may
be rebutted through a showing by a preponderance of the evidence
that a risk factor, accident, hazard, or other cause not associated
with the individual's service as a detention officer, firefighter,
peace officer, or emergency medical technician was a substantial
factor in bringing about the individual's disease or illness,
without which the disease or illness would not have occurred.
(b) A rebuttal offered under this section must include a
statement by the person offering the rebuttal that describes, in
detail, the evidence that the person reviewed before making the
determination that a cause not associated with the individual's
service as a detention officer, firefighter, peace officer, or
emergency medical technician was a substantial factor in bringing
about the individual's disease or illness, without which the
disease or illness would not have occurred.
(c) In addressing an argument based on a rebuttal offered
under this section, an administrative law judge shall make findings
of fact and conclusions of law that consider whether a qualified
expert, relying on evidence-based medicine, stated the opinion
that, based on reasonable medical probability, an identified risk
factor, accident, hazard, or other cause not associated with the
individual's service as a detention officer, firefighter, or
emergency medical technician was a substantial factor in bringing
about the individual's disease or illness, without which the
disease or illness would not have occurred.
SECTION 8. Section 409.022(d), Labor Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(d) In this subsection, the terms "detention officer,"
"emergency medical technician," "firefighter," and "peace officer"
have the meanings assigned by Section 607.051, Government Code. In
addition to the other requirements of this section, if an insurance
carrier's notice of refusal to pay benefits under Section 409.021
is sent in response to a claim for compensation resulting from a
detention officer's, an emergency medical technician's, a
firefighter's, or a peace officer's disability or death for which a
presumption is claimed to be applicable under Subchapter B, Chapter
607, Government Code, the notice must include a statement by the
carrier that:
(1) explains why the carrier determined a presumption
under that subchapter does not apply to the claim for compensation;
and
(2) describes the evidence that the carrier reviewed
in making the determination described by Subdivision (1).
SECTION 9. (a) The changes in law made by this Act apply to
a claim for benefits, compensation, or assistance pending on or
filed on or after the effective date of this Act. A claim for
benefits, compensation, or assistance filed before that date, other
than a claim pending on that date, is covered by the law in effect on
the date the claim was made, and that law is continued in effect for
that purpose.
(b) Notwithstanding any other law, a person who on or after
the date the governor declared a disaster under Chapter 418,
Government Code, relating to SARS-CoV-2, coronavirus disease 2019
(COVID-19), but before the effective date of this Act, contracted
SARS-CoV-2, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), may file a claim
for benefits, compensation, or assistance related to SARS-CoV-2,
coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), on or after the effective date
of this Act, regardless of whether that claim is otherwise
considered untimely and the changes in law made by this Act apply to
that claim.
(c) Notwithstanding Subsection (a) of this section or
Sections 409.003, 410.169, or 410.205, Labor Code, a person who on
or after the date the governor declared a disaster under Chapter
418, Government Code, relating to SARS-CoV-2, coronavirus disease
2019 (COVID-19), but before the effective date of this Act, filed a
claim for benefits, compensation, or assistance related to
SARS-CoV-2, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), and whose claim
was subsequently denied may, on or after the effective date of this
Act, request in writing that the insurance carrier reprocess the
claim and the changes in law made by this Act shall apply to that
claim. A request to reprocess a claim as authorized by this
subsection shall be filed not later than six months after the
effective date of this Act.
(d) Not later than the 60th day after the date an insurance
carrier receives a written request to reprocess a claim under
Subsection (c) of this section, the insurance carrier shall
reprocess the claim and notify the person in writing whether the
carrier accepted or denied the claim. If the insurance carrier
denies the claim, the notice must include information on the
process for disputing the denial. The notice provided by the
insurance carrier must use the notice provisions prescribed by the
division of workers' compensation of the Texas Department of
Insurance under Subsection (e) of this section.
(e) As soon as practicable after the effective date of this
Act, the division of workers' compensation of the Texas Department
of Insurance shall prescribe notice provisions for an insurance
carrier to use when providing notice of the insurance carrier's
acceptance or denial of a person's claim. The notice provisions
must be clear and easily understandable.
SECTION 10. 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.