A wide-ranging coalition of employers and business representatives is opposing a labor union sponsored proposal to extend a broad array of public sector workplace presumptions to all acute care hospital employees who provide direct patient care. The measure not only extends but expands on an existing presumption for Covid-19 that is slated to expire on …
The Assembly Insurance Committee held its initial policy hearing under the direction of chair Assemblyman Lisa Calderon (D-Whittier) and passed three workers’ comp bills on unanimous votes. The measures affect workers’ comp presumptions, death benefits, and payments of disability benefits. Calderon’s bill, AB 489, cleared the committee on the consent calendar without any testimony or …
With several workers’ comp bills on the agenda, the Assembly Insurance Committee will hold its first policy hearing of the session next week. Legislators are also getting busy amending bills already introduced, including one to expand public disclosure of contractors’ workers’ comp policies. Next week, three workers’ comp bills are on the Assembly Insurance Committee …
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 …
Governor Gavin Newsom waited until the final hours before the September 30th deadline to take action on numerous bills of interest to the workers’ comp community. Ultimately, he signed several Covid-19-related measures while vetoing two bills seeking to expand existing presumptions for skin cancer and post-traumatic stress disorders. Newsom’s support for AB 1751 by Assemblyman …
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 …
The California Legislature is entering the final weeks of the session, and bills to extend the Covid-19 presumptions for critical workers, shorten the investigatory period for some claims, and ultimately require all contractors to carry workers’ comp coverage remain alive. Last week, the Assembly and Senate appropriations committees weeded out hundreds of bills via the …