Bill introductions are complete for the first year of this two-year legislative cycle, and most workers’ compensation bills are again focused on workplace presumptions of compensability. Sprinkled among these bills are others to study gender issues, provider payments, or to require all utilization review physicians to be licensed here. Spot bills are also in the …
California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law AB 2848 by Assemblyman Miguel Santiago (D-Los Angeles) that gives Division of Workers’ Compensation administrative director George Parisotto additional time to contract out a study of the state’s utilization review system. The Division missed the existing deadline, which called for a completed report more than two and a …
The California Legislature faces a deadline today to wrap up its work on bills for this session. While several bills were still pending as of deadline, legislators did not wait until the last minute to send other workers’ comp bills to the governor’s desk. The advancing measures include a bill that would ultimately require nearly …
Senate Pro Tem Toni Atkins (D-San Diego) amended her bill SB 1127 to limit claims investigations and increase penalties, but controversial provisions remain. Meanwhile, a measure to increase the types of construction licensees required to carry workers comp with or without employees. SB 1127 has yet to be heard by the Assembly Insurance Committee or …
California Attorney General Rob Bonta is urging the U.S. Supreme Court to reject a petition for writ of certiorari challenging California’s system for differentiating independent contractors and employees. The petition filed by freelance journalists claims the act violates their free speech by exempting some in the field from the ABC test but not others. Many …
Key deadlines in the legislative process winnowed down the list of bills for the second half of the session, but the majority affecting California’s workers’ comp system are still in play. Bills covering presumptions, temporary disability, investigatory deadlines, and coverage mandates cleared their houses of origin by the May 31 deadline, while a measure addressing …