Citing the devastating economic situation in California and the uncertainty surrounding the Almaraz/Guzman and Ogilvie cases, Division of Workers’ Compensation Acting Administrative Director Carrie Nevans is telling the Legislature it’s just going to have to wait for a new Permanent Disability Rating Schedule. In a letter sent to the Legislative leadership and the chairs of the relevant policy committees, Nevans says “it is not currently prudent to move forward with a revision of the 2005 PDRS.” She also assured the Legislature that the division is looking for other solutions to address the adequacy of the workers’ comp system.

Nevans is responding to a letter from the Legislature asking why DWC chose to skip a mandatory deadline that required a new schedule. DWC was supposed to have an updated PDRS in place by January 1, 2010, but declined to act.

Legislative staffers tell Workers’ Comp Executive that they are still going over the response.

To justify its inaction, Nevans reminded the Legislature that the state entered into an economic crisis “unlike anything seen since the Great Depression…” She also cited the uncertainty created by the Almaraz/Guzman and Ogilvie cases. The letter reads in pertinent part:

“To change the PDRS with no idea how the Almaraz/Guzman and Ogilvie cases will be decided would potentially create more uncertainty by eliminating the predictability of the PDRS and the stability that predictability provides. Creating this type of unnecessary uncertainty in the current economic environment would have devastating effects for employers and workers,” the letter says.

Nevans went on to say that once this uncertainty is resolved the Division will be able to improve its research with more accurate wage loss data on which to base a PDRS revision. Nevans also says that additional regulatory and legislative action may be needed to address rising medical costs.

“To that end, I have been undertaking steps to identify specific proposals which may achieve our shared goals of maintaining an objective and adequate workers’ compensation system,” the letter says.

DWC did not respond to what those proposals might be by deadline.

A copy of Nevans' letter is available in our resources section or by clicking here.

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