BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    




                   Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
                           Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair

                                           933 (Fong)
          
          Hearing Date:  8/12/2010        Amended: 8/2/2010
          Consultant:  Bob Franzoia       Policy Vote: L&IR 4-1
          _________________________________________________________________ 
          ____
          BILL SUMMARY: AB 933 would do the following:
          - Require psychologists, for purposes of workers' compensation,  
          to be licensed by California law.
          - Require physicians who authorize medical treatment, for  
          purposes of workers' compensation, to be licensed by California  
          law.
          _________________________________________________________________ 
          ____
                            Fiscal Impact (in thousands)

           Major Provisions         2010-11      2011-12       2012-13     Fund
           Workers' compensation  Unknown, minor to major costs  
          annuallyGeneral/                        
          medical treatment                                       Special
          requirements
          _________________________________________________________________ 
          ____

          STAFF COMMENTS: SUSPENSE FILE.  AS PROPOSED TO BE AMENDED.
          
          State employee workers' compensation costs in 2008-09 were  
          approximately $460 million.  This represents a decrease of  
          approximately $100,000 from 2007-08.  Total payroll increased  
          $103 million from 2007-08.  These costs are split an estimated  
          55 percent General Funds and 45 percent Special Funds.  Costs as  
          a percentage of total payroll decreased from 3.10 percent to  
          3.08 percent.

          Utilization review is the process used by employers or claims  
          administrators to review treatment to determine if it is  
          medically necessary.  All employers or their workers'  
          compensation claims administrators are required by law to have a  
          utilization review program.  This program is used to decide  
          whether or not to approve medical treatment recommended by a  
          physician which must be based on the medical treatment  
          guidelines.











          At this time, it is unknown if the state contracts with  
          utilization review services in other states.  To the extent the  
          state does, and those services are less expensive than services  
          provided in state, this bill would result in new workers'  
          compensation costs to the General Fund and various special  
          funds.  If these utilization reviews are conducted in state,  
          this bill would not result in new costs to the state.

          The proposed amendments return the bill to the "as introduced"  
          version (February 26, 2009).