BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 1168 Page 1 Date of Hearing: May 4, 2011 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Felipe Fuentes, Chair AB 1168 (Pan) - As Introduced: February 18, 2011 Policy Committee: InsuranceVote:12 - 0 Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: No Reimbursable: SUMMARY This bill requires the Administrative Director of the Division of Worker's Compensation to develop by January 1, 2013, a fee schedule that establishes maximum fees paid for services provided by vocational experts. FISCAL EFFECT 1)The costs for the administrative director to adopt a fee schedule would be minor and absorbable within existing resources. 2)To the extent this fee schedule reduces the cost of vocational experts, it could result in savings to the Workers' Compensation Administrative Revolving Fund COMMENTS Rationale . According to the author, vocational counselors who used to receive $65 per hour under a former benefit known as Vocational Rehabilitation (repealed by the 2004 workers' compensation reforms) are now billing two, three, and four times that amount when serving as experts when an injured worker seeks to rebut their Permanent Disability Rating Schedule (PDRS). In addition, the author notes that fee schedules are the norm for virtually all participants in the workers' compensation system who receive payment for services. This bill would simply align these vocational experts with the other service providers in the system. AB 1168 Page 2 Analysis Prepared by : Julie Salley-Gray / APPR. / (916) 319-2081