Workers' compensation: acupuncturists.

Existing workers' compensation law generally requires employers to secure the payment of workers' compensation, including medical treatment, for injuries incurred by their employees that arise out of, or in the course of, employment. Existing law prohibits an acupuncturist, as defined, from being authorized to determine disability for certain purposes relating to workers' compensation disability payments and benefits. Existing law establishes the Commission on Health and Safety and Workers' Compensation within the Department of Industrial Relations. Under existing law, the duties of the commission include conducting a continuing examination of the workers' compensation system, and of the state's activities to prevent industrial injuries and occupational diseases. This bill would require the Commission on Health and Safety and Workers' Compensation to submit to the Legislature, by December 31, 2013, an assessment of whether acupuncturists, and acupuncturists who additionally have obtained qualified medical evaluator status, possess the knowledge, skills, and abilities to conduct disability evaluations in the workers' compensation system, and if not, the additional training or certification that would be required to achieve that status.