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Penalty and Interest

Last update
December 19, 2019

Additional interest should be included on overdue balances for workers' compensation medical bills in Texas. The interest rate is calculated on a quarterly basis in accordance with Labor Code § 401.023.

        

State

Texas

Late Payment Due Date

60 days

Late Payment Interest Percentage

From 1/1/2019 - 3/31/2019:  6.16%

From 4/1/2019 - 6/30/2019:  6.02%

From 7/1/2019 - 9/30/2019:  5.50%

From 10/1/2019 - 12/31/2019:  5.36%

From 01/01/20 – 03/31/20: 5.03%

Statute or Regulation

RULE §134.130 Interest for Late Payment on Medical Bills and Refunds 

Sec. 401.023. INTEREST OR DISCOUNT RATE 

Discount Rate/Interest Rate 

Statute or Regulation Text

§134.130

Insurance carriers shall pay interest on medical bills paid on or after the 60th day after the insurance carrier originally received the complete medical bill, in accordance with §133.340 of this title (relating to Medical Payments and Denials).

Health care providers shall pay interest to insurance carriers on requests for refunds paid later than the 60th day after the date the health care provider received the request for refund, in accordance with §133.260 of this title (relating to Refunds).

The rate of interest to be paid shall be the rate calculated in accordance with Labor Code §401.023 and in effect on the date the payment was made.

(d) Interest shall be calculated as follows:

multiply the rate of interest by the amount on which interest is due (to determine the annual amount of interest);

divide the annual amount of interest by 365 (to determine the daily interest amount); then

multiply the daily interest amount by the number of days of interest to which the recipient is entitled under subsection (a) or (b) of this section.

(e) The percentage of interest for each quarter may be obtained by accessing the Texas Department of Insurance's website, www.tdi.state.tx.us.

133.240 (f)(20) If the insurance carrier is paying interest in accordance with §134.130 of this title (relating to Interest for Late Payment on Medical Bills and Refunds), the interest amount paid through use of an unspecified product or service code and the number of days on which interest was calculated by using a unit per day.

(l)All payments of medical bills that an insurance carrier makes on or after the 60th day after the date the insurance carrier originally received the complete medical bill shall include interest calculated in accordance with §134.130 of this title without any action taken by the division. The interest payment shall be paid at the same time as the medical bill payment.

Sec. 401.023.  INTEREST OR DISCOUNT RATE.  (a)  Interest or a discount under this subtitle shall be computed at the rate provided by this section.

(b)  The division shall compute and publish the interest and discount rate quarterly, using the treasury constant maturity rate for one-year treasury bills issued by the United States government, as published by the Federal Reserve Board on the 15th day preceding the first day of the calendar quarter for which the rate is to be effective, plus 3.5 percent.  For this purpose, calendar quarters begin January 1, April 1, July 1, and October 1.


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