Governor Acts to Protect Workers’ Compensation System

HR Watchdog recently blogged on several employment-related bills that Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law. The governor also took action on eight bills related to the workers’ compensation system in California.

Gov. Brown signed five CalChamber-supported bills:

• AB 335 (Solorio; D- Anaheim) Lowers Frictional Costs in Worker’ Compensation — Brings an estimated savings of $42 million to the workers’ compensation system by requiring the workers’ compensation administrative director (AD) to work with the Commission on Health and Safety and Workers’ Compensation (CHSWC) to develop regulations regarding notices to injured workers; requires AD and CHSWC to develop and make accessible a booklet written in plain language about the workers’ comp claims process; streamlines and simplifies other notices to employees.
• AB 378 (Solorio; D-Anaheim) Lowers Pharmaceutical Costs — Lowers workers’ compensation costs by establishing guidelines for dispensing compound drugs, the circumstances under which those drugs would be covered and the reimbursement amount, and removes the incentives for physicians to refer patients to pharmacies in which the physician or physician's family has a financial interest.
• AB 397 (Monning; D- Carmel) Ensures Contractors Have Coverage — Seeks to address the underground economy problem by singling out contractors that do not have workers’ compensation coverage but requiring contractors that are exempt from having coverage at the time they are licensed to certify they are still exempt or have gotten coverage at the time of their license renewal.
• AB 1168 (Pan; D-Natomas) Contains Workers' Compensation Costs — Lowers costs for employers and insurers by establishing a fee schedule for vocational experts' services.
• AB 1426 (Solorio; D-Anaheim) Streamlines Workers’ Comp System — Streamlines the workers’ comp process and eliminates duplicative bureaucracy and inconsistency by eliminating the court administrator position.

Gov. Brown vetoed three CalChamber-opposed bills:

• AB 211 (Cedillo; D-Los Angeles) Increased Workers’ Comp Costs — Increases costs in the workers’ comp system by establishing a flat $6,000 supplemental job displacement voucher to cover retraining and skills enhancement for injured workers without clarifying the timeframe when the injured worker can start receiving the voucher.
  Read the governor’s veto message.
• AB 584 (Fong; D-Cupertino) Delays Workers' Compensation Cases — Causes delays in utilization review (UR) and increases costs by unnecessarily requiring UR physicians to be licensed in California.
  Read the governor’s veto message.
• AB 947 (Solorio; D-Anaheim) Extension of Temporary Disability (TD) Benefit — Increases costs to employers by broadening the definition of the types of injuries that qualify for an extended timeframe to receive TD benefits, from 104 weeks to 240 weeks.
  Read the governor’s veto message.

Visit CalChamber’s Top Story for more in-depth coverage of the governor’s actions and how they affect the workers’ compensation system.