New Bills Would Limit Compensation, Block Access To Justice For Accident Victims Hurt by Someone Else's Negligence
Most people don’t expect to get seriously injured. But when they do, the fallout can be devastating—physically, financially, and emotionally. From hospital bills and rehab to lost income and pain that lasts a lifetime, the impact of an accident caused by someone else’s carelessness can be overwhelming. That’s why injured Texans need strong legal protections and fair access to the courts.
However, two proposed bills in the Texas Legislature—House Bill 4806 and Senate Bill 30—threaten to take that away.
At Hoover Rogers Law, LLP, we represent people in Wichita Falls, Lawton, and across the region who are trying to rebuild their lives after serious accidents. We believe victims deserve a fair shot—not a rigged system that protects insurance companies. That’s why we want the public to understand what’s at stake with these new laws.
What HB 4806 and SB 30 Would Change
The proposed legislation would dramatically reshape how personal injury claims are handled in Texas. While supporters claim the changes are about reform, the real effect would be to limit justice for regular people.
Here are some of the major changes:
- Non-economic damages would be capped. This means there would be strict limits on what someone could recover for pain and suffering, emotional distress, disfigurement, or loss of enjoyment of life—even in the most tragic cases.
- Injury victims would face new disclosure rules. The bills would give insurance companies more tools to question how victims pay for their care, forcing disclosure of medical referrals, letters of protection, and personal financial relationships between doctors and lawyers.
- Medical costs would be based on reimbursement formulas—not real bills. Instead of juries hearing what healthcare providers actually charge, these bills tie damages to insurance databases and third-party payer averages—ignoring the reality that uninsured patients often pay more and that many health plans don’t cover specialized care.
Together, these changes would tip the scales in favor of defendants, making it harder for victims to get full compensation and discouraging physicians from treating patients injured in accidents.
How the Damage Caps Would Work
Under SB 30 and HB 4806, non-economic damages would be capped in several ways:
- In a personal injury case, pain and suffering damages would be limited to the lesser of three times the amount of medical expenses or $100,000 per year of life expectancy.
- In a wrongful death case, the cap for emotional distress would be $1 million.
- For many injury victims, damages for mental anguish would be capped at just $250,000.
But it doesn’t stop there. If a jury awards just $1 over the cap, the judge must justify the amount—and potentially reduce it through a process called remittitur. That means even if a jury believes someone deserves more, their judgment could be overridden.
For example, imagine a 15-year-old is permanently disabled after being hit by a reckless driver. A jury awards her $1,000,001 for pain and suffering. Under these bills, that extra dollar could trigger a legal challenge to reduce the amount, regardless of how serious her injuries are.
A Blow to Jury Rights in Texas
Perhaps one of the most alarming aspects of the bills is the requirement for unanimous jury verdicts on non-economic damages. In other words, all 12 jurors must agree on the amount of compensation for things like pain, trauma, or emotional suffering. If even one juror disagrees, the victim may get nothing.
That’s not how our civil justice system is supposed to work. Texas juries are already trusted to decide high-stakes matters—from criminal convictions to multi-million-dollar contract disputes. But these laws send the opposite message: that lawmakers don’t trust everyday Texans to decide what’s fair.
Who Benefits from These Changes?
It’s not injured families. It’s not the physicians trying to help patients recover.
The real winners would be insurance companies and corporate defendants—organizations that have every incentive to pay out as little as possible. By capping damages and narrowing access to recovery, these laws make it easier and cheaper for them to settle cases, even in situations involving lifelong injuries or death.
And when victims can’t recover their full damages in court, the costs don’t just disappear—they often get shifted to families, Medicaid, or local healthcare providers.
Why This Matters to Wichita Falls and Lawton
Our communities in North Texas and Southwest Oklahoma face real risks every day—from truck crashes on US-287 to accidents on I-44. The people hurt in these incidents are often working-class families with no financial safety net. If lawmakers impose one-size-fits-all limits on compensation, it’s these folks who will be left behind.
At Hoover Rogers Law, we’ve seen what happens when people are denied full justice. That’s why we stand with those fighting to preserve the rights of injury victims in our state.
Tell Lawmakers: Vote No on HB 4806 and SB 30
If you care about protecting the rights of injured Texans, now is the time to speak up. Use the links below to find your representatives and urge them to oppose these harmful bills:
Texans deserve a system that holds wrongdoers accountable—not one that protects their profits. Let your voice be heard.