The Texas Department of Insurance, Division of Workers’ Compensation (DWC) adopted amendments to the Texas Administrative Code, concerning medical disputes for workers’ compensation claims and preauthorization, concurrent utilization review, and voluntary certification of health care.
The amendments are necessary to implement Texas Labor Code Section 504.057, which was added by House Bill (HB) 1306, passed during the most recent legislative session.
HB 1306 added Labor Code Section 504.057, which requires expedited medical benefits and accelerated medical dispute resolution for claims for medical benefits by a death investigation professional who sustains a serious bodily injury in the course and scope of employment, and requires that the death investigation professional inform DWC and the independent review organization that a contested case hearing or appeal involves a death investigation professional.
DWC adopted the rule without changes to the proposed text. DWC received one written comment on the rule by the November 24, 2025, deadline. The rule will be effective on January 29.
“The number of high-quality companies that are in queue to go public in 2026 is higher than we’ve seen since 2021,” Ben Frost, Goldman Sachs’ global co-head of the consumer retail group said in an interview. “The question is does that mean more will go public? If it does, private investors will see the ability to exit investments again (in a) regular way, which will help (private equity) activity.”
Frost was one of the more than 3,000 attendees at the annual gathering, where executives from Walmart, Shake Shack and Jersey Mike’s were among presenters while bankers, lawyers and private equity investors spent much of their time brokering deals and landing clients behind the scenes.
The upbeat mood was a marked shift from last spring after U.S. President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariff announcements sent markets skidding and killed or stalled several consumer and retail deals. The second half of the year saw a resurgence in activity that brought with it several mega deals, including Kimberly-Clark’s nearly $50 billion deal to buy Kenvue, announced in November.
“(Companies) are still really focused on growth and synergies. They’re looking at bigger deals than they’ve been willing to do for the last number of years. The back half of last year was the start of that,” Frost said.