BREATHING ROOM

The California Division of Workers’ Compensation has been given more breathing room to complete final regulations.

Currently the DWC is still operating under temporary regulations adopted in late 2012 as “emergency regulations”
on the following matters:
-supplemental job displacement benefit vouchers
-QMEs
-Independent Medial Review
-Independent Bill Review
-interpreter services
-lien filing fees

Final regs are being drafted on all of these, with many of the regs having gone through multiple comment review periods.

But the DWC asked for more time, necessitating a request for “readoption” of emergency regs.

It was never really in doubt, but the Office of Administrative Law has now given its stamp of approval.

This allows the emergency regs to stay in place until October 1, 2013. If final regs are not available by then, there could be another request for the OAL to approve readoption of the emergency regs.

According to a press release, the “DWC expects to issue revised supplemental job displacement benefit voucher regulations for a 15-day comment period this week>”

There has been recent controversy about some of the language in the latest version of the voucher regs and how it would affect immigrants here illegally. Voters Injured at Work has been a very prominent critic of the proposed regulations. I’ll be posting on this topic shortly.

According to the press release,in the near future, the DWC will also issue revised QME revised QME, IMR, IBR and lien filing fee regulations for 15-day comment periods.

In workers’ comp the devil is often in the details. Persons with a keen interest in the these issues will want to pay attention as the regs near their final stage.


Stay tuned.

Julius Young
www.workerscompzone.com
www.boxerlaw.com