AUSTIN – Those fearing a COVID-19 liability protections bill would protect negligent nursing homes are continuing to voice those concerns.
Last week, the Texas Senate voted 29-1 to approve Senate Bill 6, the Pandemic Liability Protection Act.
The Texas House Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence Committee heard testimony on House Bill 3659, the companion bill to SB 6, on Wednesday morning.
Leach
The committee’s chairman, Rep. Jeff Leach, authored the HB 3659 – a bill he believes will not protect “bad actors” that put employees and clients at risk.
SB 6 and HB 3659 seek to provide COVID liability protections for health care providers, businesses, non-profits, religious institutions and schools that follow safety protocols.
The liability protections offered by the bills aren’t just for the current pandemic, however, as the legislation offers protections when and if future pandemics strike.
During the hearing, Rep. Julie Johnson expressed concerns that the bill’s language wasn’t “tailored enough” and its protections could be applied to all future disasters in the state, including hurricanes.
Brian Jackson, general counsel for Texas Alliance for Patient Access, reassured Johnson that the bill applies only to pandemics.
Jackson also testified that HB 3659 does not offer blanket immunity and that a defendant must prove that the virus was a “producing cause” in a liability lawsuit.
Most of the testimony opposing the bill centered on nursing homes and the negligent care provided during the pandemic.
Many of those who spoke against the bill shared personal horror stories on how their elderly family members were treated in nursing homes the past year.
They argued that many Texas nursing homes are little more than warehouses to house the elderly and that HB 3659 would grant them a free pass.