BILL ANALYSIS �
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 2732
Author: Assembly Insurance Committee
Amended: 6/15/14 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE LABOR & INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS COMMITTEE : 5-0, 6/11/14
AYES: Hueso, Wyland, Leno, Padilla, Mitchell
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 73-0, 5/8/14 (Consent) - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Workers compensation
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill contains several technical clean-up
provisions to the workers compensation reforms of 2012.
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 permits the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board
(WCAB) to determine and allow liens against any sum to be paid
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as compensation for a variety of services or expenses.
Allowable liens include a reasonable fee for legal services, the
reasonable expense incurred in the provision of medical
services, and the reasonable value of living expenses of an
injured employee subsequent to the injury.
Existing law prohibits an order or award for payment of a lien
to an assignee, unless the person who provided the services has
ceased doing business in the capacity held at the time the
expenses were incurred and has assigned all right, title, and
interests in the remaining accounts receivable to the assignee.
Existing law provides that, in the event over a dispute over a
utilization review decision on or after July 1, 2014, all
disputes must be submitted for Independent Medical Review (IMR).
IMR is requested through a one-page form.
Existing law defines a "medical-legal expense" as any costs and
expenses incurred by or on behalf of any party, the
Administrative Director of the Division of Workers'
Compensation, or the WCAB, for the purpose of proving of
disproving a contested claim. This can include X-rays,
laboratory fees, other diagnostic tests, medical reports,
medical records, medical testimony, and, as needed,
interpreter's fees by a certified interpreter. As per the rules
of the WCAB, the employee, or the dependents of a deceased
employee, must be reimbursed for his/her medical-legal expenses
and reasonably, actually, and necessarily incurred.
Existing law provides that a lien claimant must entitled to an
order or award for reimbursement of a lien filing fee or lien
activation fee, together with interest at the rate allowed on
civil judgments under specified circumstances.
Existing law requires that any order or award for payment of a
lien must be made for payment only to the person who was
entitled to payment for the expenses at the time the expenses
were incurred.
Existing law requires the Administrative Director of the
Division of Workers' Compensation to create a priority
conference calendar for cases requiring an expedited hearing if
one of the issues involved is a medical treatment appointment or
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medical legal examination.
This bill:
1.Permits the IMR request to be on a form up to two pages long.
2.Explicitly allows medical-legal expenses to be pursued through
the WCAB lien process.
3.Clarifies that an employer must reimburse a lien claimant for
a lien filing fee or lien activation fee, together with
interest at the rate allowed on civil judgments under
specified circumstances.
4.Clarifies that the prohibition against lien assignment only
applies to lien filed prior to January 1, 2013 and states it
is declarative of existing law.
5.Makes technical and non-substantive changes to existing law.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 73-0, 5/8/14
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Bigelow, Bloom,
Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian
Calderon, Campos, Chau, Ch�vez, Chesbro, Conway, Cooley,
Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Donnelly, Fong, Fox,
Frazier, Beth Gaines, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon,
Grove, Hagman, Harkey, Roger Hern�ndez, Holden, Jones,
Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder, Logue, Lowenthal, Maienschein,
Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Nestande,
Olsen, Pan, Patterson, Perea, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon,
Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Skinner, Stone, Ting, Wagner,
Waldron, Weber, Wieckowski, Wilk, Williams, Yamada, John A.
P�rez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Eggman, Gorell, Gray, Hall, Mansoor, V.
Manuel P�rez, Vacancy
PQ:k 6/23/14 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: NONE RECEIVED
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