California employers can expect to pay more, a lot more, if a proposed bill to create a state-run wraparound medical provider network (MPN) becomes law. Experts note that employers will pay millions to develop and maintain this state-run all-encompassing network. The proposed change will drive up the cost of care by losing network discounts on …
The question of who or what is an independent contractor is front and center, both for wage and hour and tax issues and for workers’ comp. The state legislature will be the scene of a major fight this year over the California Supreme Court’s employee classification decision in the Dynamex case and parties on both …
The Division of Workers’ Compensation says it will begin forming stakeholder groups to work on rewriting the state’s medical-legal fee schedule (MLFS) and the rules surrounding the delivery and review of medical records. State officials got an earful at a hearing last week from qualified medical evaluators (QMEs) who are fed up with outdated pay …
California’s public entities and private employers that self-insure for workers compensation purposes, either individually or through self-insured groups (SIGs), experienced increased premium costs for excess workers’ comp insurance coverage last year. The rebound in 2013’s written premium totals, which are up approximately 11% to over $200 million, follows several years of declining premium totals and a …
The state’s competitive workers’ comp market of last resort is moving into the tough market for excess workers’ comp insurance. Sources indicate that this could be a major development for the excess workers’ comp market in California. Few players are interested in writing excess policies due to the unpredictable nature of the risk. Even fewer are …
With the legislature on hiatus, the action is on the regulatory front. Still working on regulations stemming from SB 863, the Department of Industrial Relations through its many tentacles is working to affect change on the California workers’ comp system. Sometimes the change it affects doesn’t consider the additional costs that come with businesses being …
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 …