89R10913 KKR-D
	By: Cole	H.B. No. 2414

	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
	AN ACT
	relating to the eligibility of certain first responders for
	workers' compensation benefits for post-traumatic stress disorder
	under the workers' compensation system.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1.  Section 408.006(b), Labor Code, is amended to
	read as follows:
	(b)  Notwithstanding Section 408.0061 [504.019], a mental or
	emotional injury that arises principally from a legitimate
	personnel action, including a transfer, promotion, demotion, or
	termination, is not a compensable injury under this subtitle.
	SECTION 2.  Section 504.019, Labor Code, is transferred to
	Subchapter A, Chapter 408, Labor Code, redesignated as Section
	408.0061, Labor Code, and amended to read as follows:
	Sec. 408.0061 [504.019].  COVERAGE FOR POST-TRAUMATIC
	STRESS DISORDER FOR CERTAIN FIRST RESPONDERS. (a) In this section:
	(1)  "First responder" means an individual employed by
	this state, a political subdivision of this state, or an
	institution of higher education as defined by Section 61.003,
	Education Code, who is:
	(A)  a peace officer under Article 2A.001, Code of
	Criminal Procedure;
	(B)  an individual [a person] licensed under
	Chapter 773, Health and Safety Code, as an emergency care
	attendant, emergency medical technician, advanced emergency
	medical technician [technician-intermediate], emergency medical
	technician-paramedic, or licensed paramedic; or
	(C)  a firefighter subject to certification by the
	Texas Commission on Fire Protection under Chapter 419, Government
	Code, whose principal duties are firefighting and aircraft crash
	and rescue.
	(2)  "Post-traumatic stress disorder" means a disorder
	that meets the diagnostic criteria for post-traumatic stress
	disorder specified by the American Psychiatric Association in the
	Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fifth
	edition, or a later edition adopted by the commissioner of workers'
	compensation.
	(b)  It is presumed that post-traumatic [Post-traumatic]
	stress disorder suffered by a first responder is a compensable
	injury under this subtitle unless it is shown by a preponderance of
	the evidence [only if it is based on a diagnosis] that:
	(1)  the disorder is caused by one or more events
	occurring outside [in] the course and scope of the first
	responder's employment; and
	(2)  no [the preponderance of the evidence indicates
	that the] event or events that occurred in the course and scope of
	the first responder's employment were a producing cause of the
	disorder.
	(c)  For purposes of this subtitle, the date of injury for
	post-traumatic stress disorder suffered by a first responder is the
	date on which the first responder first knew or should have known
	that the disorder may be related to the first responder's
	employment.
	SECTION 3.  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 408.0061 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 4.  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
	408.0061 of this code or Subchapter B, Chapter 607, Government
	Code, and expedited medical benefits under Section 504.055.
	SECTION 5.  Section 501.001(5-a), Labor Code, is amended to
	read as follows:
	(5-a)  "Post-traumatic stress disorder" has the
	meaning assigned by Section 408.0061 [504.019].
	SECTION 6.  The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
	a claim for workers' compensation 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 that date is
	governed by the law as it existed on the date the compensable injury
	occurred, and the former law is continued in effect for that
	purpose.
	SECTION 7.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.