Workers' Compensation News
Beginning in June of 2008, the News Updates will begin to be available in a PDF format. This will allow you to download the updates, reading them at your leisure. Also, very soon we will be placing this section of our website in our new Member's Only section. If your membership is not up-to-date, please visit our Membership page today.
May 23, 2008 Update
It's All About The Budget, Aprl 3, 2008
With the ever growing State budget deficit now reaching $16 billion, workers' compensation legislation has taken a back seat... for now. Early this year, the Governor instituted a 10 percent cut across the board in all departments, and asked that the Legislature work on identifying additional cost cutting measures, which left some speculating that education cuts through Prop 98 will be on the chopping block. Both Senate and Assembly Republicans have promised to vote against any tax increases - this includes any fee hikes - on the Democrats' budget proposals. The Democrats on the other hand have vowed to limit sweeping cuts to education, health care and in home support services and to propose tax and fee increases to offset the budget shortfall.
The Legislature must agree and submit a budget by the Constitutional deadline of July 1st. While most legislative debates on the budget are rarely completed by the deadline, some surmise that a stalemate on this budget will take us into August, and perhaps September. Whatever the case may be, we here in Sacramento are looking ahead towards a very long summer.
Please review the legislative matrix below which includes summaries, statuses, and texts of pending workers' compensation legislation.
Press Release: Gov. Schwarzenegger Announces Record Number of Certified Small and Disabled Veteran Businesses are Providing Goods and Services to the State of California, Office of the Governor, April 1, 2008
The Governor has made helping small and disabled veteran businesses a priority, including…Reforming workers' compensation with historic legislation that cut premiums by 65 - resulting in cumulative savings of more than $24 billion for all employers.
http://gov.ca.gov/press-release/9215/
Press Release: California Appeals Court: SCIF Erred in Denying Access to PPN, Insurance Journal, California Court of Appeals, April 1, 2008
A California Court of Appeals has ruled that the state's primary workers' compensation insurer cannot deny an occupational medical clinic from its preferred provider network because it impaired the provider's ability to practice occupational medicine in Fresno.
http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/west/2008/04/01/88754.htm
~WorkCompCentral.com~
(full article available by subscription at http://www.workcompcentral.com)
1st DCA Affirms Asbestos Award Against Exxon for Benicia Refinery, April 2, 2008
Exxon Mobil Corp. failed to overturn a $700,000 asbestos judgment after an appellate court determined that the company did not warn a contractor about the asbestos-related dangers at its Benicia refinery.
Governor Appoints Two to Physician Assistant Committee: Regulatory, April 2, 2008
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s office announced two appointments to the Physician Assistant Committee for the Medical Board of California.
Comp Judge Appointed to Inspector General Post, April 2, 2008
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed a former workers' compensation administrative law judge as special assistant inspector general for the Bureau of Independent Review in the Office of the Inspector General
Workers comp written premium drops again, Sacramento Business Journal, December 18, 2007
California's workers' compensation system continues to look pretty good in the post-reform environment.
http://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/stories/2007/12/17/daily15.html
Press Release: California Workers' Comp Insurance Rating Board Reports Q3 Results, Insurance Journal, WCIRB, December 18, 2007
"California statewide written premium for the first nine months of 2007 is estimated at $9.9 billion, approximately 23 percent below the written premium reported for the first nine months of 2006," according to the report. "The average statewide insurer rate per $100 of payroll for the quarter is $2.49. That amount is 25 percent below the average rate charged for the first six months of 2006, and 61 percent below the average rate charged in the second six months of 2003."
http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/west/2007/12/18/85767.htm
Auditor's report to target laggard state agencies, Capitol Weekly, December 13, 2007
Among other things, Speier's bill, SB1452 of the 2005-06 legislative session, requires the Bureau of State Audits to report each year to the Legislature by Jan.15 the names of state entities who failed to meet the auditor's compliance rules. The bill also reaffirms and expands the auditor's authority to audit state agencies - including the State Compensation Insurance Fund (SCIF), the nearly century-old, quasi-governmental pool that provides workers compensation insurance to those who are unable to get it on the private market.
http://www.capitolweekly.net/article.php?xid=writos5f6cgc02
WorkCompCentral.com
(full article available by subscription at http://www.workcompcentral.com)
WCAB Decision Could Help Small Self-Insured Companies, December 18, 2007
If it survives an almost-certain court appeal, Friday's en banc decision by the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board (WCAB) overturning "the Wilkinson Doctrine" -- a 30-year-old precedent that has governed the way multiple-injury claims have been handled in California since 1997 -- could make it easier and cheaper for smaller self-insured companies to protect themselves against large workers' compensation claims.
WCIS to Reject Transactions for Unknown ID Numbers, December 18, 2007
Beginning Jan. 1, the Workers' Compensation Information System (WCIS) database will reject transactions for unknown claim administrator Federal Employer Identification Numbers (FEINs), according to a notice posted Monday by the California Division of Workers' Compensation.
State Bar's Workers' Compensation Section Planning Workshops, December 18, 2007
The Workers' Compensation Section of the State Bar of California will participate in the 2008 Section Education Institute with five programs January 18-20, 2008 at the Hyatt Regency Mission Bay-San Diego.
