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NEWS:
GOVERNOR AND LAWMAKERS STRUGGLE TO REACH DEAL ON BENEFITS BILL:
Gov. Gray Davis is insisting that $1.5 billion in cost-saving reforms
be inserted into legislative leaders' latest benefit proposal, and the
negotiations are likely to delay passage of a bill until next month.
STATE DENYS ACCESS TO CONSULTANT'S PROPOSALS:
The Department of Industrial Relations insists that portions of proposals
made by a consultant who has an exclusive contract to update the Official
Medical Fee Schedule are exempt from the California Public Records Act.
APPLICANTS' ATTORNEYS RALLY AT CONVENTION: Senate President John Burton and
Assembly Insurance Committee Chairman Tom Calderon are among the politicians
who pay homage while the California Applicants' Attorneys Association meet
in La Jolla.
RICHMAN PLODS ON WITH OWN REFORMS:
Assemblyman Keith Richman, R-Northridge, doggedly pursues his own reform
ideas even though Democrats are running the show in workers' compensation.
FLASH REPORT: GOVERNOR ISSUES HIS WORKERS' COMP PROPOSAL
Gov. Gray Davis is insisting on major concessions before he will support
the latest benefit-increase plan by legislative leaders and predicts that
his measures will decrease the total cost of the package by $1.5 billion,
according to an outline of his plan obtained by the Advisor.
Lobbyists for employers, however, believe that proponents are inflating the
cost savings and are still working for more serious reforms, said Lori
Kammerer, managing director of the California Coalition on Workers'
Compensation.
The proposed deal was hashed out after high-level negotiations involving
Davis' staff, legislative leaders and labor representatives. Sen. President
John Burton plans to drop a benefit package introduced earlier this month,
SB 1156, and insert the new proposal in another bill left over from last
year's session, AB 749. That bill has already passed the Assembly and is in
the Senate, where Burton can exercise more control, Capitol insiders say.
GOVERNOR NEGOTIATING NEW BENEFITS BILL:
Gov. Gray Davis is negotiating with labor leaders over the terms of the
fourth benefits bill to be introduced in as many years. Lobbyists said
the price tag is expected to come in at about $3 billion.
CALDERON CRITICISM BECOMES ISSUE IN INSURANCE COMMISSIONER RACE:
Assembly Insurance Committee Chairman Tom Calderon blasted a state
advisory board for a variety of alleged misdeeds, but Calderon's Democratic
challengers in the Insurance Commissioner race say he's trying to use his
influence to rake in campaign contributions from medical providers.
DAVIS BUDGET CUTS DIVISION BUDGET, BUT BOOSTS SPENDING ON STUDIES:
The budget proposal released Jan. 10 would cut $8 million from the Workers'
Compensation Division, but increase spending on studies by the Commission
on Health and Safety and Workers' Compensation.
SAN BERNARDINO PROSECUTORS ACCUSE TWO BUSINESSES OF PREMIUM FRAUD:
An investigation by a premium fraud task force set up by the Department of
Insurance leads to the arrest of two Southern California couples who
allegedly bilked the State Compensation Insurance Fund out of $2 million.
COST-CONTAINMENT EXPENSES RISING:
As medical costs increase, so does the amount that insurance companies pay
to control the costs, according to a new study by the California Workers'
Compensation Institute.
FLASH REPORT: LATEST BENEFIT BILL
INTRODUCED
As expected, Democratic leaders have inserted the latest version of their
worker's comp benefit increase into an existing bill, starting the
legislature's dash to head off a November ballot initiative that could cost
employers and insurers $6 billion annually.
The legislation, Senate Bill 1156, looks a lot like Senate Bill 71, vetoed
last year by Gov. Gray Davis. Lobbyists, however, say this time the
legislation has Davis' blessing. The bill carries a $3 billion price tag,
but Davis is worried that voters will approve the even more costly
initiative.
Senate President John Burton, D-San Francisco, gutted a bill left over from
last year and inserted the benefit-increase language and many of the same
cost-saving measures included in SB 71. Assembly Insurance Commission
Chairman Tom Calderon, D-Montebello, joined as a co-author.
The Assembly passed the SB 1156 amendments on a voice vote Monday and
referred the legislation to the Assembly Insurance Committee. The committee
has not yet scheduled a hearing.
For full coverage of events leading to the bill's introduction, read the
Jan. 16 edition of the Advisor.
BULLETIN: FLASH REPORT
WORKERS' COMP ADVISOR
Friday, January 11, 2002
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FLASH REPORT: Lawmakers May Introduce New Benefits Proposal Monday
State lawmakers plan to introduce the next version of a benefits-increase
bill on Monday, and this time Gov. Gray Davis is actively involved in
negotiations, Capitol lobbyists said.
Carlyle Brakensiek, executive director of the California Society of
Industrial Medicine and Surgery, said today that legislative staffers
estimate the benefits package will cost $2.8 billion to $3.2 billion. That
includes the offset for cost-savings measures that were included in last
year's version, he said.
The package is virtually identical to the increases proposed in last year's
Senate Bill 71, Brakensiek said, except that Assembly Insurance Chairman Tom
Calderon has agreed to remove a provision that would have required insurers
to pay benefits retroactively to the most seriously injured workers.
Brakensiek said legislative leaders plan to meet with Department of
Industrial Relations Director Steve Smith this weekend to reach final terms.
Senate President John Burton plans to gut a bill left over from last year
that's already made it to the Assembly floor, Senate Bill 1156, and insert
the benefits language, he said. The Assembly will vote on the package
Monday, assuming the governor and legislative leaders make a deal.
Peter Gorman, a lobbyist for the American Alliance of Insurers, said it
appears the governor is getting behind the legislation because he fears the
$6 billion price tag of a pair of ballot measures backed by labor that are
due to be released for circulation by the Attorney General's office on Jan.
25. Gorman said insurers and employers have not been invited to the
bargaining sessions between the Davis administration and labor leaders.
Gil Stein, president of the California Applicants Attorneys Association,
said he believes labor will drop the initiative if the Legislature passes a
benefits bill early in the session.
For the full story, read the Jan. 16 edition of the Advisor.
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And that, as they say is -30-
