BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON LABOR AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
Senator Tony Mendoza, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: AB 1513 Hearing Date: June 24,
2015
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|Author: |Committee on Insurance |
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|Version: |March 26, 2015 |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |No |
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|Consultant:|Gideon Baum |
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Subject: Workers' compensation: studies.
KEY ISSUE
Should the Legislature delete three obsolete study requirements?
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 requires that, not later than July 1, 2009, the
Commission on Health and Safety and Workers' Compensation
(CHSWC) publishes a study to examine the causes of the number of
insolvencies among workers' compensation insurers from 1998 to
2008. (Labor Code §77.7)
Existing law requires that, not later than July 1, 2004, the
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administrative director conducts a study of medical treatment
provided to workers who have sustained industrial injuries and
illnesses. Existing law also requires that this study be
conducted in consultation with the Commission on Health and
Safety and Workers' Compensation, other state agencies, and
researchers and research institutions with expertise in health
care delivery. (Labor Code §127.6)
Existing law requires that, not later than January 1, 2006, the
administrative director, after consultation with the Insurance
Commissioner, contracts with a qualified organization to study
the effects of the 2003 and 2004 legislative reforms on workers'
compensation insurance rates. (Labor Code §138.65)
This bill would delete the above-discussed study requirements.
COMMENTS
1. Need for this bill?
As was discussed above, existing law contains three study
requirements, all three of which contain deadlines which have
already passed. All three studies have either been published
by CHSWC or addressed by other studies. Therefore, deleting
these provisions will not impact ongoing research or the
workers' compensation system.
The Assembly Insurance Committee's analysis also notes that
this bill may be a vehicle "for other noncontroversial changes
to the workers' compensation laws that achieve consensus among
all stakeholders, should these issues arise during this
Legislative Session." To date, such a consensus issue has yet
to be found in this legislative session. Committee staff will
continue to work with Assembly Insurance Committee staff to
ensure that any possible amendments are communicated in a
timely manner to Committee members and staff.
2. Proponent Arguments :
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None on file.
3. Opponent Arguments :
None on file.
SUPPORT
None Received.
OPPOSITION
None Received.
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