BILL ANALYSIS Ó ----------------------------------------------------------------- |ENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 914| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- THIRD READING Bill No: SB 914 Author: Mendoza (D) Introduced:1/26/16 Vote: 21 SENATE LABOR & IND. REL. COMMITTEE: 4-0, 4/6/16 AYES: Mendoza, Stone, Leno, Mitchell NO VOTE RECORDED: Jackson SUBJECT: Workers compensation: medical provider networks: independent medical reviews SOURCE: Author DIGEST: This bill strikes an out-of-date reference to the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine's Occupational Medicine's Practice Guidelines in the California Labor Code. ANALYSIS: Existing law: 1)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. SB 914 Page 2 2)Provides that medical, surgical, chiropractic, acupuncture, and hospital treatment, including nursing, medicines, medical and surgical supplies, crutches, and apparatuses, including orthotic and prosthetic devices and services, that is reasonably required to cure or relieve the injured worker from the effects of his or her injury shall be provided by the employer. (Labor Code §4600) 3)Provides that the Administrative Director must adopt, after public hearings, a medical treatment utilization schedule, that shall incorporate the evidence-based, peer-reviewed, nationally recognized standards of care and must address, at a minimum, the frequency, duration, intensity, and appropriateness of all treatment procedures and modalities commonly performed in workers' compensation cases. (Labor Code §5307.27) This bill: 1)Strikes an out-of-date reference to the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine's Occupational Medicine Practice Guidelines. 2)Makes additional minor and technical changes to existing law. FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.:NoLocal: No SUPPORT: (Verified4/8/16) California Neurology Society California Society of Industrial Medicine and Surgery California Society of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation OPPOSITION: (Verified4/8/16) SB 914 Page 3 None received ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: The author notes that the Medical Treatment Utilization Schedule (MTUS) was created in 2009, and since that time has been the sole medical guideline for medical treatment in the California workers' compensation system. Despite this, some out-of-date Labor Code sections continue to reference the predecessor American College of Occupational Medicine's Medicine Practice Guidelines (ACOEM). SB 914 would strike these out-of-date references, ensuring that existing law accurately reflects the status of the MTUS as the sole medical guideline, reducing confusion and increasing the clarity of existing law. Prepared by:Gideon Baum / L. & I.R. / (916) 651-1556 4/8/16 14:09:28 **** END ****