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Three measures
awaiting approval by a key state Senate
committee would undermine recent reforms that
have improved California's workers
compensation system, according to Sam Sorich,
president of the Association of California
Insurance Companies (ACIC).
Sorich said
the pending bills, scheduled to be heard by
the Labor and Industrial Relations Committee
today, would weaken the reforms' medical
provider networks (MPNs) and treatment
guidelines.
"The
reform laws are improving care to injured
workers, holding down costs and allowing the
injured to get back to work sooner. If these
pending bills were allowed to become law, the
result would be poorer care, higher costs and
workers out of work longer," said Sorich.
The three
pending measures are AB 1612 by Assemblywoman
Fran Pavley, D-Agoura Hills, AB 2068 by
Assemblyman Pedro Nava, D-Santa Barbara, and
AB 3026 by Assemblywoman Sally Lieber,
D-Mountain View.
AB 1612 would
allow the unilateral cancellation or voiding
of medical provider network contracts by
physicians. MPNs provide ready access to care
for injured workers.
"AB 1612
is a dangerous approach since no one knows how
many contracts will be voided. That could
jeopardize injured workers' access to good
medical care." said Sorich.
Another bill,
AB 2068, would remove limitations placed on
predesignating a personal physician, thereby
undoing an important element in the 2004
reform law, according to the ACIC president.
The
provisions in AB 3026 could be interpreted to
exclude additional chiropractic, occupational
therapy and physical therapy visits from
treatment guidelines. "This measure could
expose injured workers to treatments that may
have no proven relationship to improving their
conditions," said Sorich.
Reflecting on
the three pending bills, Sorich added:
"The reforms contained in existing law
have lead to dramatic decreases in workers
compensation costs and improved medical care.
ACIC believes that now is not the time to
undermine these reforms."
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