California’s legislators completed their work for the session last month by passing many bills, but only a few related to the workers’ comp community. Earlier in the session, there was chatter about a comprehensive workers’ comp reform package, but in the end, any such discussion was put off until the next legislative session. Before legislators …
A report examining California’s qualified medical evaluator system (QME) found that the recent update to the med-legal fee schedule (MLFS) helped increase the supply of QMEs, but the additional QMEs …
Assembly Appropriations held a bill in committee that would have created a registry system for temporary staffing agencies, including a requirement to prove they had valid workers’ comp coverage. Another bill to create a state registry for Professional Employer Organizations (PEOs) was watered down to instead only establish a weak statutory definition of PEOs and …
California legislators returned to Sacramento this week for the final weeks of the session with a hefty load of bills to work through. The measures of interest to the workers’ comp community include bills to enhance anti-fraud efforts, hold carriers accountable for correcting problems, and enact staffing industry reforms. Already off the table were controversial …
District attorneys and their representatives are supporting a bill that would apply the state’s general restitution statutes to all defendants who enter a diversion program to avoid a conviction on their record. Prosecutors note that there are 14 state-authorized diversion programs, but only 4 include a specific provision requiring defendants to pay restitution to victims. …
The Senate Labor, Public Employment, and Retirement committee approved a bill addressing billing disputes over discounts in medical provider contracts after the author agreed to take the committee’s recommended amendments. It was the second time the committee approved the bill – AB 1048 by Assemblyman Phillip Chen (R-Brea) – which was back before the committee …
The Senate and Assembly appropriations committees last week completed the dirty work of culling hundreds of bills from the suspense file, including a medical leave bill that promised injured workers time off to seek care for an industrial injury. Other measures applying to the Subsequent Injuries Benefits Trust Fund and a staffing agency licensing program …
California legislators are considering a pair of proposals to reform the troubled Subsequent Injuries Benefits Trust Fund. The Newsom administration is pushing for a comprehensive package that tackles the backlog of 30,000 pending cases. And a bill from last year – that got vetoed – is back, authored by Assemblyman Liz Ortega (D-Hayward). Employers, carriers, …