BILL ANALYSIS Ó ----------------------------------------------------------------- |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2732| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |1020 N Street, Suite 524 | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- THIRD READING Bill No: AB 2732 Author: Assembly Insurance Committee Amended: 6/15/14 in Senate Vote: 21 SENATE LABOR & INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS COMMITTEE : 5-0, 6/11/14 AYES: Hueso, Wyland, Leno, Padilla, Mitchell SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8 ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 73-0, 5/8/14 (Consent) - See last page for vote SUBJECT : Workers compensation SOURCE : Author DIGEST : This bill contains several technical clean-up provisions to the workers compensation reforms of 2012. 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 permits the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board (WCAB) to determine and allow liens against any sum to be paid CONTINUED AB 2732 Page 2 as compensation for a variety of services or expenses. Allowable liens include a reasonable fee for legal services, the reasonable expense incurred in the provision of medical services, and the reasonable value of living expenses of an injured employee subsequent to the injury. Existing law prohibits an order or award for payment of a lien to an assignee, unless the person who provided the services has ceased doing business in the capacity held at the time the expenses were incurred and has assigned all right, title, and interests in the remaining accounts receivable to the assignee. Existing law provides that, in the event over a dispute over a utilization review decision on or after July 1, 2014, all disputes must be submitted for Independent Medical Review (IMR). IMR is requested through a one-page form. Existing law defines a "medical-legal expense" as any costs and expenses incurred by or on behalf of any party, the Administrative Director of the Division of Workers' Compensation, or the WCAB, for the purpose of proving of disproving a contested claim. This can include X-rays, laboratory fees, other diagnostic tests, medical reports, medical records, medical testimony, and, as needed, interpreter's fees by a certified interpreter. As per the rules of the WCAB, the employee, or the dependents of a deceased employee, must be reimbursed for his/her medical-legal expenses and reasonably, actually, and necessarily incurred. Existing law provides that a lien claimant must entitled to an order or award for reimbursement of a lien filing fee or lien activation fee, together with interest at the rate allowed on civil judgments under specified circumstances. Existing law requires that any order or award for payment of a lien must be made for payment only to the person who was entitled to payment for the expenses at the time the expenses were incurred. Existing law requires the Administrative Director of the Division of Workers' Compensation to create a priority conference calendar for cases requiring an expedited hearing if one of the issues involved is a medical treatment appointment or CONTINUED AB 2732 Page 3 medical legal examination. This bill: 1.Permits the IMR request to be on a form up to two pages long. 2.Explicitly allows medical-legal expenses to be pursued through the WCAB lien process. 3.Clarifies that an employer must reimburse a lien claimant for a lien filing fee or lien activation fee, together with interest at the rate allowed on civil judgments under specified circumstances. 4.Clarifies that the prohibition against lien assignment only applies to lien filed prior to January 1, 2013 and states it is declarative of existing law. 5.Makes technical and non-substantive changes to existing law. FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes Local: No ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 73-0, 5/8/14 AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Bigelow, Bloom, Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chávez, Chesbro, Conway, Cooley, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Donnelly, Fong, Fox, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Grove, Hagman, Harkey, Roger Hernández, Holden, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder, Logue, Lowenthal, Maienschein, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Nestande, Olsen, Pan, Patterson, Perea, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Skinner, Stone, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wieckowski, Wilk, Williams, Yamada, John A. Pérez NO VOTE RECORDED: Eggman, Gorell, Gray, Hall, Mansoor, V. Manuel Pérez, Vacancy PQ:k 6/23/14 Senate Floor Analyses SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: NONE RECEIVED CONTINUED AB 2732 Page 4 **** END **** CONTINUED