BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó




                   Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
                           Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair

                                          AB 335 (Solorio)
          
          Hearing Date: 7/11/2011         Amended: 5/27/2011
          Consultant: Bob Franzoia        Policy Vote: L&IR 6-0
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          BILL SUMMARY: AB 335 would require the Administrative Director 
          (AD) of the Division of Workers' Compensation, in consultation 
          with the Commission on Health and Safety and Workers' 
          Compensation (commission) to prescribe reasonable rules and 
          regulations for serving workers' compensation claims notices on 
          an employee.  This bill would require the AD, in consultation 
          with the commission, to make available on the Department of 
          Industrial Relations' Internet Web site, and make available at 
          district offices, informational material that describes the 
          overall workers' compensation claims process.  
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                            Fiscal Impact (in thousands)

           Major Provisions         2011-12      2012-13       2013-14     Fund
           Develop and disseminateUp to $100 Minor, absorbable costs   
          Special*
          workers' compensation             annually 
          claims notice information                                   

          * Workers' Compensation Administration Fund
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          STAFF COMMENTS: The Labor Code authorizes the commission to 
          issue periodic reports and recommendations to improve and 
          simplify benefit notices.  In July 2010, the commission reviewed 
          specific problems with the current system of benefit notices and 
          recommended alternatives.  The report noted problems with 
          benefit notices, including too voluminous; complex, 
          overwhelming, frightening, vague, confusing; difficult to 
          understand; not coordinated as a single system, not 
          standardized; misleading; not conveying the main points to 
          workers and difficult to keep updated.

          The commission considered several methods to improve benefit 
          notices, including:








          AB 335 (Solorio)
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          - Providing background, explanatory information to all injured 
          workers. 
          - Providing information early in the process, and making it 
          continually available.
          - Posting information on the Internet, including transferring 
          information from factsheets included with the current benefit 
          notices to an online source (16 percent indicated they did not 
          have access to the Internet).
          - Creating mechanisms to allow access for workers who do not 
          have easy access to the Internet, such as providing paper copies 
          upon request.

          The commission estimated costs to print and mail 60,000 to 
          130,000 booklets at $300,000 to $650,000 and estimated net 
          savings of $42 million.  The May 27 version of this bill deleted 
          reference to the booklet and instead required informational 
          material be made available at district offices.