Oakland, CA – The Commission on Health and Safety and Workers’ Compensation (CHSWC) recently released its nineteenth Annual Report for 2013. The 2013 Annual Report presents information about the health and safety and workers’ compensation systems in California and makes recommendations to improve their operations
The 2013 Annual Report includes CHSWC’s recommendations for legislative and administrative changes for the benefit of California’s workers and employers:
- Re-Examine the system in light of the passage of Senate Bill (SB) 863.
- Evaluate the impact of the changes both on an individual provision-by-provision basis and in combination on: medical necessity determinations; medical provider networks; appropriate fees for medical and other services; medical evaluations; and timely payment for medical and other services.
- Evaluate the impact of the new provisions on cost, quality and access of injured workers to appropriate and timely medical care, and address areas of potential concern.
- Evaluate reports and forms required by the Division of Workers’ Compensation (DWC) as part of managing injured workers’ treatment.
- Develop with DWC a Copy Service Fee Schedule taking into consideration the Copy Service Fee Schedule study as well as public comments and suggestions.
- Conduct a study of the operation and potential improvements of the Qualified Medical Evaluator (QME) process.
- Continue to improve the reporting of employers’ coverage for workers’ compensation so that coverage information is accurate.
- Continue to support the collection and analysis of transaction-level data from insurers by the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau (WCIRB) to ensure predictability, transparency, incentives and California Department of Insurance (CDI) oversight of the insurance industry.
- Evaluate the administrative and overhead cost of delivering occupational medical care under workers’ compensation insurance.
- Continue to support training and outreach about health and safety in order to prevent illness and injury on the job and consequently preserve worker earnings and control employer workers’ compensation costs.
- Examine the integration of care and coordination of benefits in light of the Affordable Care Act and Medicare’s secondary payer rules.
A copy of the report is available here: CA CHSWC 2013 Annual Report (PDF)
Source: CA CHSWC