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No Refunds, Reinstatements For Workers’ Comp Lien Holders

Operating under orders from a federal court judge, a somewhat embarrassed California Division of Workers’ Compensation (DWC) yesterday stopped collecting the $100 activation fee from individuals and companies holding liens that were filed before Jan. 1, 2013. But state officials say there will be not refunds for lien holders who already paid the fee and … Read More »

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Emergency Lien Fee Regulations Readopted

The Division of Workers’ Compensation (DWC) is asking the Office of Administrative Law (OAL) to keep emergency rules governing the lien filing and $150 fee payment system in place through the end of the year while permanent regulations are finalized. Those permanent regulations also moved a step closer to completion as prominent players in the workers’ … Read More »

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Administration Seeks Dismissal As Lien Challenge Heads To Court

State officials and lien claimants will face off in federal court next month to debate the constitutionality of SB 863’s requirement that claimants holding legacy liens pay a $100 activation fee or lose the right to pursue payment on the claims. At stake are millions of dollars in filing fees to the Division of Industrial … Read More »

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Lien Holders Challenge Constitutionality Of Activation Fee

SB 863’s mandate that workers’ comp lien holders pay a $100 activation fee to keep their legacy liens alive is generating millions in revenue for the Department of Industrial Relations and the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board is dismissing liens at hearings when the fee has not been paid. The system is working to somewhat reduce … Read More »

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Attempt To Circumvent Lien Fees Blocked

The Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board (WCAB) is closing a loophole that some lien claimants and other vendors in the workers’ comp system are exploiting while attempting to get around SB 863’s new filing fees. The vulnerability is contained in Labor Code section 5811, but a WCAB en banc decision clarifies that this is not a … Read More »

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Vendors Figure Ways Around SB 863 Savings – Employers Could Be Stuck

California’s insured employers, workers’ comp carriers, and self-insured employers are concerned. They fear state officials are developing regulations that will give medical interpreters and copy services a way to escape SB 863’s cost control measures for liens – a way into more litigation. Nearly half the promised savings from last year’s reform are at stake … Read More »

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Data Shows Major Spike in 4Q Lien Filings

California’s employers’ are facing an avalanche of new workers’ comp medical lien claims. The new liens were filed with the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board just ahead of the new filing fee ordered by SB 863. Filings in the fourth quarter of 2012 alone surpassed the total number of liens filed in all of 2011 as the … Read More »

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Lien Filing Fees, IMR Disputes Getting Early Workout

Two key cost-saving elements of the SB 863 workers’ comp reform package have shown early positive results giving some hope that predictions of some $870 million in savings will pan out, says Kathy Zalewski, chief counsel of the Division of Workers’ Compensation. One measure focusing on the collection on fees associated with filing medical liens … Read More »

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