Workers' compensation: studies.

Existing law establishes a workers' compensation system, administered by the Administrative Director of the Division of Workers' Compensation, to compensate an employee for injuries sustained in the course of his or her employment. Existing law requires the Commission on Health and Safety and Workers' Compensation to undertake a specified study examining the causes of the number of insolvencies among workers' compensation insurers between the calendar years of 1998 and 2008, to be conducted by an independent research organization, and requires the commission and the Department of Industrial Relations, no later than July 1, 2009, to publish the report of the study on its Internet Web site and to inform the Legislature and the Governor of the availability of the report. Existing law requires the administrative director to begin a study, on or before July 1, 2003, of medical treatment provided to workers who have sustained industrial injuries and illnesses, and to report and make recommendations, based on the results of the study, to the Legislature, on or before July 1, 2004. Existing law requires the administrative director, after consultation with the Insurance Commissioner, to contract with a qualified organization to study the effects of the 2003 and 2004 legislative reforms on workers' compensation insurance rates, and requires the administrative director to submit the final study on or before January 1, 2006. This bill would repeal these workers' compensation study requirements.