BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                            



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                                    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  
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          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  

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          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


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