The California workers’ comp judicial system may soon have its own specialized team to handle mass litigation cases, such as consolidated lien hearings going on in Los Angeles or class action claims that spring up every few years. The possibility of setting up a specialized system for these kinds of cases came up last summer …
A controversial lien study is getting the green light from the Commission on Health and Safety and Workers’ Compensation (CHSWC), but only after a $100 lien filing fee was watered down from a firm recommendation to a mere suggestion. The report highlights the dysfunctional lien process that costs employers and California workers’ comp carriers $200 …
If the pleadings are any indication, consolidating workers’ comp compound medication liens could turn into a long, drawn-out process if not a fiasco. Some 200 pages of legal documents say as much. Payors are asking for consolidation. But lien claimants are arguing in excruciating detail against it—and not for all the same reasons. Many of …
The latest attempt to reach a resolution on consolidation of hundreds, if not thousands, of liens for interpreters and durable medical equipment providers is proving elusive. The issues the lien claimants want addressed are outside the scope of the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board. The latest attempt by the Los Angeles district office would have one …
The ringleader in a workers’ comp lien scam that operated for nearly three years in Southern California and bilked carriers out of $1.5 million will likely be sentenced to 12 years in state prison next month, according to law enforcement personnel. Rene Montes, who operated W.C. Surgery Center in La Habra and W.C.S.C. & Associates …
EAMS Upgrades The Division of Workers’ Compensation (DWC) just celebrated the successful processing of the one-millionth document through the much-maligned Electronic Adjudication Management System (EAMS), while announcing plans to get even more documents into the system quicker. DWC’s nine-month plan would open access to bulk filing six of the most common forms used in the …
Chock full of placeholders, noncontroversial housekeeping measures and some outright drivel, the legislative process is off to its usual sausage-making start. The counties are bringing back lien reform and hope to cut this costly monstrosity down to size. And speaking of monstrosities, there is even a bill that would require the Electronic Adjudication Management System …
Since 1993, legislators have been trying to develop ways to make delivery of medical benefits under California’s workers’ comp system function more like benefits under group health coverage. While not …