BILL NUMBER:  AB 2086
  VETOED	DATE: 09/30/2016




To the Members of the California State Assembly:

I am returning Assembly Bill 2086 without my signature.

This bill requires the Division of Worker's Compensation to appoint
qualified clinical neuropsychologists as Qualified Medical Examiners
(QMEs).

I have the same concerns with this bill as with its predecessor, AB
1542, which I vetoed last year. The changes contemplated by this bill
relate to legal evaluations, not medical treatment of injured
workers as suggested by the declaratory text of the measure. If
enacted, the bill would create a unique lower standard for a select
group of providers with a direct financial interest in being
appointed as QMEs in California's workers' compensation system.

In addition to increasing benefits and stabilizing costs, the 2013
workers' compensation reforms were intended to return medical
treatment decisions to doctors and reduce the excessive litigation
relating to medical treatment disputes. Treatment of injuries by
neuropsychologists where medically appropriate as determined by
injured workers' physicians will be unchanged by a signature or veto
of this measure. However, a signature would be a step backwards in
the ongoing efforts to reduce unnecessary costs that do not benefit
injured workers.

Sincerely,



Edmund G. Brown Jr.