TEXAS COURT OF APPEALS, THIRD DISTRICT, AT AUSTIN
ON MOTION FOR REHEARING
NO. 03-02-00803-CV
All Saints Health System; All Saints Episcopal Hospital/Fort Worth; All Saints Episcopal
Hospital/Cityview; Baptist Health System; Baptist Medical Center; North Central
Baptist Hospital; Northeast Baptist; St. Luke's Baptist; et al., Appellants
v.
Texas Workers' Compensation Commission; State Office of Risk Management;
Continental Casualty Company; Texas Association of School Boards Risk
Management Fund; Mid-Century Insurance Company; Truck Insurance
Exchange; Farmers Insurance Exchange; et al., Appellees
NO. GN201300, HONORABLE LORA J. LIVINGSTON, JUDGE PRESIDING
Because the reasoning underlying our resolution of the important issue presented by this appeal has implications for thousands of claims, and the original opinion unwittingly complicates the future proceedings in this case and others, I would grant the appellees' motion for rehearing. The Court's opinion acknowledges the critical procedural posture of this case: The administrative law judge abated the test cases--while discovery issues were being litigated--because the Hospitals filed a suit for declaratory judgment. It was this discovery dispute that spawned in part this litigation.
The unassailable narrow ground for decision in this case, as appellees correctly observe, is that rule 134.1(c) requires that reimbursement decisions be governed by the basic statutory standards set out in Texas Labor Code section 413.011(d). This coincides with what the Hospitals and the Commission agreed to in the 1997 compromise settlement agreement when the Hospitals nonsuited and dismissed with prejudice their claims against the Commission. Any finer parsing of the standard is premature and must await discovery and completed administrative hearings. Accordingly, I would grant appellees' motion for rehearing to clarify the issues and resolve this dispute. Because the Court does not, I respectfully dissent.
Jan P. Patterson, Justice
Filed: December 4, 2003