SB 375, as amended, Committee on Labor and Industrial Relations. Workers’ compensation: liens.
Existing law establishes a workers’ compensation system, administered by the Administrative Director of the Division of Workers’ Compensation, to compensate an employee for injuries sustained in the course of his or her employment. Existing workers’ compensation law authorizes the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board to determine and allow specified expenses as liens against any sum to be paid as compensation.
This bill would correct an erroneous cross-reference with regard to whether or not a lien claimant is entitled to medical information, as defined.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated local program: no.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
Section 4903.6 of the Labor Code is amended to
2read:
(a) Except as necessary to meet the requirements of
4Section 4903.5, a lien claim or application for adjudication shall
5not be filed or served under subdivision (b) of Section 4903 until
6both of the following have occurred:
7(1) Sixty days have elapsed after the date of acceptance or
8rejection of liability for the claim, or expiration of the time
9provided for investigation of liability pursuant to subdivision (b)
10of Section 5402, whichever date is earlier.
11(2) Either of the following:
12(A) The time provided for payment of medical treatment bills
13pursuant to Section
4603.2 has expired and, if the employer
14objected to the amount of the bill, the reasonable fee has been
15determined pursuant to Section 4603.6, and, if authorization for
16the medical treatment has been disputed pursuant to Section 4610,
17the medical necessity of the medical treatment has been determined
18pursuant to Sections 4610.5 and 4610.6.
19(B) The time provided for payment of medical-legal expenses
20pursuant to Section 4622 has expired and, if the employer objected
21to the amount of the bill, the reasonable fee has been determined
22pursuant to Section 4603.6.
23(b) All lien claimants under Section 4903 shall notify the
24employer and the employer’s representative, if any, and the
25employee and his or her representative, if any, and the appeals
26board within five working days of
obtaining, changing, or
27discharging representation by an attorney or nonattorney
28representative. The notice shall set forth the legal name, address,
29and telephone number of the attorney or nonattorney representative.
30(c) A declaration of readiness to proceed shall not be filed for
31a lien under subdivision (b) of Section 4903 until the underlying
32case has been resolved or where the applicant chooses not to
33proceed with his or her case.
34(d) With the exception of a lien for services provided by a
35physician as defined in Section 3209.3,begin delete noend deletebegin insert aend insert lien claimant shall
36begin insert
notend insert be entitled to any medical information, as defined in
37subdivision (g) of Section 56.05 of the Civil Code, about an injured
38worker without prior written approval of the appeals board. Any
P3 1order authorizing disclosure of medical information to a lien
2claimant other than a physician shall specify the information to be
3provided to the lien claimant and include a finding that the
4information is relevant to the proof of the matter for which the
5information is sought. The appeals board shall adopt reasonable
6regulations to ensure compliance with this section, and shall take
7any further steps as may be necessary to enforce the regulations,
8including, but not limited to, impositions of sanctions pursuant to
9Section 5813.
10(e) The prohibitions of this section shall not apply to lien claims,
11applications for
adjudication, or declarations of readiness to
12proceed filed by or on behalf of the employee, or to the filings by
13or on behalf of the employer.
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