BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
AB 1454 (Solorio) - Workers' compensation: audiologists.
Amended: August 6, 2012 Policy Vote: L&IR 5-0
Urgency: No Mandate: No
Hearing Date: August 6, 2012 Consultant:
Bob Franzoia
This bill does not meet the criteria for referral to the
Suspense File.
Bill Summary: AB 1454 would include doctors of audiology who
meet specified requirements among those medical professions who
may be appointed by the Administrative Director of the Division
of Workers' Compensation within the Department of Industrial
Relations as a qualified medical evaluator.
Fiscal Impact: $135,000 in 2012-13 and 2013-14 from the Workers'
Compensation Administrative Revolving Fund to create and
administer examinations.
Up to $35,000 annually thereafter for exam administration;
all costs offset by fees.
Background: AB 1454 would add doctors of audiology to the list
of physicians that may qualify to apply to be accepted as a
qualified medical examiner provided that the individual is a
practicing clinical audiologist licensed by the state who has a
doctorate of audiology, or a PhD and has more than five years'
experience in the diagnosis and treatment of hearing and hearing
disorders. Under current law, "physician" includes physicians
and surgeons, doctors of osteopathy, psychologists,
acupuncturists, optometrists, dentists, podiatrists and
chiropractic practitioners.
Labor Code 139.2 requires that, prior to his or her appointment
as a qualified medical evaluator, an individual must pass an
examination written and administered by the Industrial Medical
Council for the purpose of demonstrating competence in
evaluating medical-legal issues in the workers' compensation
system. The cost to develop this examination for doctors of
audiology is estimated at up to $100,000 one time.
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Related Legislation: This bill is similar to SB 557 (Wiggins)
2007 which was vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger with the
following message:
This bill would allow audiologists to issue qualified medical
evaluator (QME) reports relative to workers' compensation
claims.
Although SB 557 would allow audiologists to issue a QME report,
it would still require the final diagnosis to be made by a
physician as audiologists are not able to render disability
determinations in the workers' comp system. This could result in
unnecessary delays for injured workers and increased costs to
the system by delaying prompt resolution of claims. In addition,
the proponents of this measure have not demonstrated an unmet
need for evaluating hearing loss in the workers' comp system.
For these reasons, I am unable to sign this bill.