Two bills attacking personal injury are making their way through the Texas legislature and could drastically shift the balance of justice away from injured Texans and toward insurance companies and corporate defendants. While HB 4806 and SB 30 are framed as a way to “reform” the system, it will actually strip away critical rights, limit access to medical care, and threaten the foundational principles of fairness and accountability in the Civil Justice System.
Here’s what you need to know.
Limits Fair Compensation for Injured Texans
One of the most harmful parts of these bills is that it arbitrarily restricts injured people from receiving full and fair compensation. It does this by tying economic and medical damages to a government reimbursement database—rather than the actual costs of care. This means the following:
- A person injured in a car accident may receive less than what their medical treatment could actually cost, and they’re left stuck with the bill.
- Unpaid medical bills provided under letters of protection may not be recoverable even when that care is critical and life-saving.
Further, these bills severely limit non-economic damages by narrowing the definition of pain and suffering. It also raises the bar for proving emotional distress—essentially invalidating real human experiences. To make matters worse for Texans, it requires a unanimous jury decision for awarding non-economic damages. An almost impossible standard for many injury victims to meet.
Even the most severe injuries, such as paralysis or permanent disfigurement, could be stripped of meaningful compensation. By capping pain and suffering damages with rigid formulas, if passed, HB 4806 and SB 30 deliver a financial windfall to insurance companies and corporations—making it cheaper for them to settle cases than invest in prevention, training, or safety.
Interferes with the Doctor-Patient Relationship
HB 4806 and SB 30 are twin bills that interfere with the doctor-patient relationship by allowing the discovery of financial and referral relationships between attorneys and medical providers. This overreach not only violates patient confidentiality but could discourage physicians from treating insured injury victims altogether.
Doctors would be forced to maintain extensive records and face invasive discovery requirements for two years after providing care—adding unnecessary bureaucracy and administrative headaches for those simply trying to help their patients.
Undermines Letters of Protection, a Lifeline for the Uninsured
Many Texans without health insurance rely on letters of protection to access treatment after suffering serious injuries. These agreements are critical. Especially in a state with one of the highest rates of uninsured residents.
HB 4806 and SB 30 effectively attack the credibility of LOPs and treat them as suspect and burdensome. It also creates legal hurdles that penalize those who don’t use their health insurance—regardless of whether it’s due to high deductibles, coverage gaps, or out-of-network restrictions.
In fact, these bills introduce a “failure to mitigate” damages argument for those who don’t go through their health insurance. It forces you to shoulder the cost of high deductibles and out-of-pocket expenses or risk losing your right to a full recovery.
The result? Higher health insurance premiums for you, your family and small businesses across Texas.
Further Weakens the 7th Amendment
These bills replace the judgment of Texans serving on juries with pre-set formulas and definitions. It sends a clear message: “You can serve on a jury, but we don’t trust you to decide what’s fair.”
Prioritizes Big Insurance Over You
If passed, HB 4806 and SB 30 are a dream for big insurance companies. That’s why they’re lobbying your state senators and representatives in hopes that their end game is signed into law.
These harmful bills dramatically reduce what they must pay out in injury cases—at the expense of the very people the justice system is designed to protect. When victims can’t recover the costs of their care, those expenses often fall to medical and public assistance programs. In other words, taxpayers will pick up the cost of corporate negligence.
Further, this policy could cost rural and underserved communities their healthcare providers and clinics. Without the ability to recover their fees through LOPs, many will stop treating injury victims altogether.
Texas Doesn’t need these bills. We’ve Already Seen What Caps Do
Contrary to what some proponents of this policy suggest, lawyer representation in injury claims does not drive up the cost of insurance. The health insurance industry provides a clear example of capped recovery and steadily increasing costs. In 2003, the healthcare lobby successfully pushed the Texas Legislature to pass tort reform, which placed strict caps on medical malpractice claims.
As a result, no matter how devastating the injury—even if a doctor leaves a surgical sponge inside a patient—the maximum recovery is capped at around $250,000, before deducting expert fees, investigation costs, and attorney fees. That leaves many victims with little to no compensation after expenses, making it financially impractical to pursue valid claims.
This is why so few Texas attorneys take medical malpractice cases today. It’s simply too much work and risk for too little return to put a patient through reliving the horrors of their experience. That reform didn’t lower healthcare costs, nor did it make Texans safer, but it did deny justice to countless Texans.
Now, lawmakers are trying to do the same thing to all personal injury cases.
Texas already has some of the most restrictive personal injury laws in the country. In the last 20 years, the Texas Supreme Court hasn’t upheld a so-called “nuclear verdict” in favor of a plaintiff. Recent decisions like In Re Allstate and K&L Auto Crushers have only strengthened the defense’s ability to challenge medical bills and damages.
These bills are faux attempts to “fix” a problem that doesn’t exist. And just like in 2003, the consequences will fall squarely on the shoulders of injured, working-class Texans—especially those without insurance or access to care in rural areas.
The Bottom Line: Say NO to These Harmful Texas Personal Injury Bills
HB 4806 and SB 30 don’t protect Texans—they protect corporations. It erodes our civil justice system, silences doctors, and forces injury victims into deeper financial hardship.
Texans believe in personal responsibility. That means when someone causes harm, they should be held accountable. This will turn that value upside down.
We urge you to contact your lawmaker and urge the following:
- Protect the right to a trial by jury.
- Trust Texans to determine fair compensation.
- Stand up for injured people, working families, and small businesses.
- Support the independence of doctors.
- Reject laws that favor powerful insurance companies over real people.
Texans deserve better. Let your representative know: Vote NO on the Texas personal injury bill.
