Negotiations Surfaced

Friday, September 4, 2009 | 0

By Julius Young

In an otherwise sleepy legislative session for workers' comp issues, there's an end-of-session drama unfolding.

The issue was scooped last Friday by WorkCompCentral.com in an article by Senior Editor Jim Sams. WorkCompCentral obtained a copy of a document (written on the letterhead of CHSWC, the Commission on Health, Safety and Workers' Compensation) which apparently details a "grand bargain" type compromise that would make system cuts to achieve savings. The goal would be to create savings in order to restore some of the PD benefits cut after the 2004 reform and 2005 PDRS.

I say apparently because I personally have yet to see the document. But I do have reason to believe that the document is or will be making its way into the possession of major comp system stakeholders.

What's unknown at this point is how many of the key stakeholders are willing to line up behind this proposal, and what the legislative leadership's position is on a last-minute deal. Major legislation sometimes emerges under cloak (for you Star Trek fans), and can sometimes be well down the track before the word gets out.

Would the Democratic legislative leadership prefer to wait in hopes that there will be a Democratic governor in another year?

According to the WorkCompCentral piece, the key players have been Sean McNally (formerly an attorney with Hanna and Brophy and currently an officer of Grimmway Farms and currently chairman of CHSWC) and Angie Wei of the California Labor Federation, also an appointee to CHSWC.

Interestingly, according to the WorkCompCentral piece, CHSWC executive director Christine Baker was said to have denied knowledge of the document on CHSWC letterhead.

According to WorkCompCentral,  the compromise would place limits on lien filings. In Southern California in particular, lien claimants are a major factor in the system. There would be a paper independent medical review system to review UR denials, apparently similar to the process used in managed care for group medical care systems. I have to assume that this would create a system bypassing the QME determination on UR denials that was endorsed by the California Supreme court in the Sandhagen case.

Ambulatory surgery fee schedules would take a hit. The supplemental job displacement voucher would be eliminated. The 15% PD bump up/down would be eliminated.

WorkCompCentral noted that the proposal seemed to call for indexing PD to a target earnings loss formula. Apparently the PD schedule would be conclusive.

Exactly what other procedural and substantive changes are under consideration isn't known (it's worth noting again that I have not seen the document, which may be a work in process).

It's quite possible labor would want the governor to sign a bill extending predesignation.

And since the Almaraz, Guzman and Ogilvie cases could be re-decided by the WCAB any day now  it's possible that the proposal under discussion could contain language which would change or moot those cases.

We'll probably be learning more in the coming days.


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Julius Young is an applicants' attorney with Boxer & Gerson LLP in Oakland. This column was reprinted with his permission from his blog, www.workerscompzone.com
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