Workers' compensation.

(1) 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 generally provides for the reimbursement of medical providers for services rendered in connection with the treatment of a worker's injury, and requires an employer to establish a medical treatment utilization review process, in compliance with specified requirements. Existing law provides for an independent medical review process to resolve disputes over a utilization review decision for injuries occurring on or after January 1, 2013, and for any decision that is communicated to the requesting physician on or after July 1, 2013, regardless of the date of injury. Under existing law, as part of its notification to the employee regarding an initial utilization review decision that denies, modifies, or delays a treatment recommendation, an employer is required to provide the employee with a one-page form prescribed by the administrative director, and an addressed envelope, which the employee may return to the administrative director or the administrative director's designee to initiate an independent medical review. Under existing law, an employer is required to include on this form any information required by the administrative director to facilitate the completion of the independent medical review. Existing law specifies the required contents of the form. This bill would revise the requirements applicable to utilization review procedures by changing the maximum length of the above-described form to 2 pages. (2) Existing law authorizes the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board to determine and allow as liens against any sum to be paid as compensation, certain amounts, including, but not limited to, reasonable medical treatment expenses, except those disputes subject to independent medical review or independent bill review. This bill would include in those amounts that the board is authorized to allow as liens certain medical-legal expenses to which the employee is entitled under a specified provision for the purpose of proving or disproving a disputed claim. (3) Existing law requires that a lien claimant in a workers' compensation matter is entitled to an order or award for reimbursement of a lien filing fee or lien activation fee, together with interest at the rate allowed on civil judgments, if certain conditions are satisfied. This bill would specify that these fees are to be paid by the employer of the injured worker. (4) Existing law requires an order or award for payment of a lien for medical or hospital treatment in a workers' compensation matter to be made for payment only to the person who was entitled to payment for the expenses for medical or hospital treatment at the time the expenses were incurred, and not to an assignee unless the person has ceased doing business in the capacity held at the time the expenses were incurred and has assigned all right, title, and interest in the remaining accounts receivable to the assignee. This bill would authorize an assignment of that payment if the assignment was completed prior to January 1, 2013, or if it was required by a contract that became enforceable and irrevocable prior to January 1, 2013. The bill would state that this provision is declarative of existing law. (5) Existing law authorizes an injured worker to institute proceedings for the collection of compensation, including vocational rehabilitation services, within 5 years after the date of the injury upon the ground that the original injury has caused new and further disability or that providing vocational rehabilitation services has become feasible because the employee's medical condition has improved or because of other factors not capable of determination at the time the employer's liability for vocational rehabilitation services otherwise terminated. This bill would delete the provisions relating to vocational rehabilitation, but retain the authority of an injured worker to institute proceedings for the collection of compensation within 5 years after the date of the injury upon the ground that the original injury has caused new and further disability.