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