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  H.B. No. 673
 
 
 
 
AN ACT
  relating to certain services provided by the office of injured
  employee counsel under the workers' compensation program of this
  state.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Subchapter C, Chapter 404, Labor Code, is
  amended by adding Section 404.1015 to read as follows:
         Sec. 404.1015.  REFUSAL TO PROVIDE OR TERMINATION OF
  SERVICES. (a) The public counsel may refuse to provide or may
  terminate the services of the office to any claimant who:
               (1)  is abusive or violent to or who threatens any
  employee of the office;
               (2)  requests assistance in claiming benefits not
  provided by law; or
               (3)  commits or threatens to commit a criminal act in
  pursuit of a workers' compensation claim.
         (b)  If the public counsel determines under Subsection (a)
  that the services of the office should be refused or terminated, the
  office shall inform the affected claimant in writing and notify the
  division.
         (c)  The office shall notify and cooperate with the
  appropriate law enforcement authority and the Department of
  Insurance, Fraud Unit, if the office becomes aware that the
  claimant or a person acting on the claimant's behalf commits or
  threatens to commit a criminal act.
         SECTION 2.  Section 404.105, Labor Code, is amended to read
  as follows:
         Sec. 404.105.  AUTHORITY TO ASSIST INDIVIDUAL INJURED
  EMPLOYEES IN ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES.  (a) The office, through
  the ombudsman program, may appear before the commissioner, [or]
  division, or State Office of Administrative Hearings to provide
  assistance to [on behalf of] an individual injured employee during:
               (1)  a workers' compensation [an] administrative
  dispute resolution process; or
               (2)  an enforcement action by the department or
  division against an employee for a violation of the Texas Workers' 
  Compensation Act.
         (b)  This chapter may not be construed as requiring or
  allowing legal representation for an individual injured employee by
  an office attorney or ombudsman in any proceeding.
         SECTION 3.  Section 404.109, Labor Code, is amended to read
  as follows:
         Sec. 404.109.  INJURED EMPLOYEE RIGHTS; NOTICE.  The public
  counsel shall adopt, in the form and manner prescribed by the public
  counsel and after consultation with the commissioner of workers'
  compensation, [submit to the division and the department for
  adoption by the commissioners] a notice of injured employee rights
  and responsibilities to be distributed by the division as provided
  by commissioner or [and] commissioner of insurance rules.  A right
  or responsibility adopted under this section must be consistent
  with the requirements of this subtitle and division rules.  This
  section may not be construed as establishing an entitlement to
  benefits to which the claimant is not otherwise entitled under this
  subtitle.
         SECTION 4.  Section 404.110, Labor Code, is amended to read
  as follows:
         Sec. 404.110.  APPLICABILITY TO PUBLIC COUNSEL OF
  CONFIDENTIALITY REQUIREMENTS.  (a)  Confidentiality requirements
  applicable to examination reports and to the commissioner of
  insurance under Sections 401.058, 401.105, 401.106, 441.201, and
  501.158 [Article 1.18], Insurance Code, as applicable, and Section
  404.111, [and to the commissioner of insurance under Section 3A,
  Article 21.28-A, Insurance Code,] apply to the public counsel.
         (b)  An employee of the office may not be compelled to
  disclose information communicated to the employee by a claimant on
  any matter relating to the claimant's claim. This subsection does
  not prohibit or alter the office's duty to notify and cooperate with
  appropriate law enforcement authorities under Section 404.1015(c).
         SECTION 5.  Section 404.111, Labor Code, is amended to read
  as follows:
         Sec. 404.111.  ACCESS TO INFORMATION.  (a)  Except as
  otherwise provided by this section, the [The] office may access
  information from an executive agency that is otherwise confidential
  under a law of this state if that information is necessary for the
  performance of the duties of the office, including information made
  confidential under[:
               [(1)]  Section [843.006, Insurance Code;
               [(2)  Chapter 108, Health and Safety Code;
               [(3)  Chapter 552, Government Code; and
               [(4)  Sections 402.083,] 402.091[, and 402.092 of this
  code].
         (b)  The office may not access information under Subsection
  (a) that is an attorney-client communication or an attorney work
  product, or other information protected by a privilege recognized
  by the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure or the Texas Rules of
  Evidence.
         (c)  In furtherance of assisting an employee under Section
  404.105(a)(2), the office may not access information under Section
  404.111(a) to which the employee is not otherwise entitled. If the
  office possesses any information made confidential by the Texas
  Workers' Compensation Act or any other laws of this state to which
  the employee is not otherwise entitled, that information may not be
  disclosed to the employee or any other party assisting an employee
  under Section 404.105(a)(2). Nothing in this subsection prohibits
  or alters the office's duty to notify appropriate law enforcement
  authorities under Section 404.1015(c).
         (d)  Except as provided by this section  [On request by the
  public counsel], the division or the department shall provide any
  information or data requested by the public counsel [office] in
  furtherance of the duties of the office under this chapter.
         (e) [(c)]  The office may not make public any confidential
  information provided to the office under this chapter. Except as
  provided by Subsection (c), the office [but] may disclose a summary
  of the information that does not directly or indirectly identify
  the individual or entity that is the subject of the
  information.  The office may not release, and an individual or
  entity may not gain access to, any information that:
               (1)  could reasonably be expected to reveal the
  identity of a health care provider or an injured employee;
               (2)  reveals the zip code of an injured employee's
  primary residence;
               (3)  discloses a health care provider discount or a
  differential between a payment and a billed charge; or
               (4)  relates to an actual payment made by a payer to an
  identified health care provider.
         (f) [(d)]  Information collected or used by the office under
  this chapter is subject to the confidentiality provisions and
  criminal penalties of[:
               [(1)  Section 81.103, Health and Safety Code;
               [(2)  Section 311.037, Health and Safety Code;
               [(3)  Chapter 159, Occupations Code; and
               [(4)]  Section 402.091 [of this code].
         (g) [(e)]  Information on health care providers and injured
  employees that is in the possession of the office, and any
  compilation, report, or analysis produced from the information that
  identifies providers and injured employees is not:
               (1)  subject to discovery, subpoena, or other means of
  legal compulsion for release to any individual or entity; or
               (2)  admissible in any civil, administrative, or
  criminal proceeding.
         (h) [(f)]  Notwithstanding Subsection (e)(2) [(c)(2)], the
  office may use zip code information to analyze information on a
  geographical basis.
         SECTION 6.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.
 
 
  ______________________________ ______________________________
     President of the Senate Speaker of the House     
 
 
         I certify that H.B. No. 673 was passed by the House on April
  24, 2009, by the following vote:  Yeas 140, Nays 0, 1 present, not
  voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.
  No. 673 on May 29, 2009, by the following vote:  Yeas 144, Nays 0, 1
  present, not voting.
 
  ______________________________
  Chief Clerk of the House   
 
         I certify that H.B. No. 673 was passed by the Senate, with
  amendments, on May 26, 2009, by the following vote:  Yeas 31, Nays
  0.
 
  ______________________________
  Secretary of the Senate   
  APPROVED: __________________
                  Date       
   
           __________________
                Governor