BILL ANALYSIS Ó
Senate Committee on Labor and Industrial Relations
William W. Monning, Chair
Date of Hearing: September 11, 2013 2013-2014 Regular
Session
Consultant: Gideon L. Baum Fiscal:No
Urgency: Yes
Bill No: AB 1376
Author: Hernandez
As Introduced/Amended: September 6, 2013
SUBJECT
Workers' compensation: medical treatment: interpreters.
KEY ISSUE
Should the Legislature extend the deadline for complying with
medical interpreter certification requirements to March 1, 2014?
ANALYSIS
Existing law establishes a workers' compensation system that
provides benefits to an employee who suffers from an injury or
illness that arises out of and in the course of employment,
irrespective of fault. This system requires all employers to
secure payment of benefits by either securing the consent of the
Department of Industrial Relations to self-insure or by securing
insurance against liability from an insurance company duly
authorized by the state.
Existing law provides that, if an employee submits to
examination by a physician at the request of the employer, the
employer's insurer, or other specified parties, and the employee
does not proficiently speak or understand the English language,
he or she shall be entitled to the services of a qualified
interpreter in accordance with conditions and a fee schedule
prescribed by the administrative director. These services shall
be provided by the employer. (Labor Code §4600)
Existing law provides that, for the purposes of workers'
compensation, the interpreter can only be certified, or deemed
certified, through a certification process created by the State
Personnel Board, the Judicial Council, or a third-party testing
organization designated by the Division of Workers'
Compensation. (Labor Code §4600)
Existing law also provides that an employer does not need to pay
for a non-certified interpreter unless the interpreter provides
interpretation services for a language where certification has
not been established. (Labor Code §4600)
Existing regulations set the requirements that medical
interpreters must meet in order to be considered qualified
interpreters for the purposes of the workers' compensation
system. In order to be certified , a medical interpreter must:
1) Listed by the State Personnel Board as a certified
interpreter;
2) Passing the Certification Commission for Healthcare
Interpreters (CCHI) exam; or
3) Passing the National Board of Certification for Medical
Interpreters (National Board) exams.
(California Code of Regulations, Title 8, §§9795.1 & 9795.1.6)
This bill extends the deadline for complying with the
above-discussed regulations to March 1, 2014.
COMMENTS
1. Need for this bill?
Prior to the passage of last year's workers' compensation
reform bill, SB 863 (DeLeon), multiple stakeholders reported
significant abuse and serious problems with how medical
interpreters were provided to injured workers. One of the
most common complaints was the use of non-certified medical
interpreters providing interpretive services to injured
workers. These non-certified interpreters (also known as
provisionally certified interpreters) were largely unregulated
Hearing Date: September 11, 2013
AB 1376
Consultant: Gideon L. Baum Page 2
Senate Committee on Labor and Industrial Relations
and viewed as a source of abuse by both employer and labor
stakeholders.
SB 863 partially addressed this by requiring that the Division
of Workers' Compensation (DWC) regulate the certification
process for interpreters. The emergency regulation was first
published on December 19, 2012, only 3 months after SB 863 was
signed, and went into effect January 1, 2013. At that time,
the emergency regulation included a permissive requirement
that an interpreter passes the CCHI exam, but it was
relatively vague on the path to certification.
Starting in March of this year, the DWC began the regulatory
process to concretize permanent regulations on the
certification of medical interpreters. It was not until June
14 of this year, however, that both certification paths (CCHI
and the National Board exams) were set down in draft
regulations. This final version of the amendments was
approved on August 13, nearly 3 months later. Since that
time, interpreters must be certified in order to receive
compensation, barring the unusual circumstance where a
provisionally certified interpreter can be utilized.
AB 1376 would extend the period of time by which a medical
interpreter needs to be certified to March 1, 2014. AB 1376
would not impact the methods of certification, nor would it
impact other items set by regulation, such as the interpreter
fee schedule.
2. Staff Comments:
As noted above, AB 1376 amends Labor Code Section 4600 (g) in
order to give medical interpreters more time to comply with
the certification requirements provided under statute and
regulation. However, under existing law, Labor Code Section
4600 (g) also permits employers to not pay interpreters that
lack certification. This could create a situation where the
statute has an internal inconsistency: the Legislature gives
more time to medical interpreters to get certified, but allows
employers to pay those same interpreters for not being
Hearing Date: September 11, 2013
AB 1376
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Senate Committee on Labor and Industrial Relations
certified.
If AB 1376 were to become law, it is unlikely that the
Workers' Compensation Appeals Board (WCAB) would sustain such
an inconsistency, as Legislative intent is manifest in the
bill. Rather, it is likely that the WCAB would find that the
Legislature intended to extend the timeline for the
implementation of the regulations to March 1, 2014, which
would provide additional time to interpreters to get
certified. Therefore, AB 1376 also extends the time an
employer can deny payment due to a lack of certification.
However, the Committee may wish to consider encouraging the
author to submit a letter to the journal in order to fully and
completely manifest legislative intent.
3. Proponent Arguments :
Proponents note that last year's workers' compensation reform
required that medical interpreters become certified by a
recognized, independent, and impartial organization in order
to work in workers' compensation hearings or injured workers'
medical appointments. According to the proponents, due to
legal restrictions, the regulation proposed by the Department
of Industrial Relations could not contain a compliance period.
Proponents argue that the lack of a compliance period did not
provide medical interpreters with a sufficient period of time
to comply, as the certification process can take up to six
months from the initial registration date until receiving a
notice of successful certification.
4. Opponent Arguments :
None on file.
5. Prior Legislation :
SB 863 (DeLeon), Statutes of 2012, Chapter 363, was discussed
above.
Hearing Date: September 11, 2013
AB 1376
Consultant: Gideon L. Baum Page 4
Senate Committee on Labor and Industrial Relations
SUPPORT
Voters Injured at Work (Sponsor)
California Applicants' Attorneys Association
California Neurology Society
California Society of Industrial Medicine and Surgery
California Society of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
California Workers' Compensation Services Association
Latino Workers' Compensation Professionals
Statewide Interpreters Corp.
VQ OrthoCARE
OPPOSITION
None on file.
Hearing Date: September 11, 2013
AB 1376
Consultant: Gideon L. Baum Page 5
Senate Committee on Labor and Industrial Relations