CA DWC Posts Proposed Changes to the Medical Treatment Utilization Schedule Regulations Online for Public Comment

Medical treatment guidelines are being proposed to providence evidential standards for the workers' compensation medical benefits. Today's post was shared by votersinjuredatwork and comes from www.workerscompensation.com

The Division of Workers’ Compensation (DWC) has posted proposed changes to the existing Medical Treatment Utilization Schedule (MTUS) regulations to the online forum where members of the public may review and comment on the proposals. “These changes to DWC’s evidence-based medical treatment guidelines provide a critically needed framework describing best practices for providing medical care for work-related illnesses and injuries,” said DWC Executive Medical Director Dr. Rupali Das. The proposed updates to the MTUS were developed in cooperation with the multidisciplinary Medical Evidence Evaluation Advisory Committee (MEEAC). The proposed amendments to the MTUS regulations modify regulatory definitions, which includes a definition for Evidenced Based Medicine, and adds new definitions for terms used in the strength of evidence methodologies. The regulations clarify the role of the MTUS in accordance with Labor Code section 4600 and set forth the process to determine if medical care is reasonable and necessary when the MTUS is inapplicable.

Lots of data to process for Calif. lead paint judge

Lead exposure in the workplace continues due to decaying lead based paint in place. The complications of this environmental hazard are serious. Attention is now focussed on the Court's anticipated decision in the Lead Paint Litigation trial flowing from lead paint as a "public nuisance" that needs remediation.  Today's post was shared by Legal Newsline and comes from legalnewsline.com

Judge Kleinberg A watershed decision expected before the end of the year may come down to how one individual processes volumes of complex analyses of complex data relating to the use, promotion and manufacture of lead paint in the last century and its impact on children today. In a case that took six weeks to try after 13 years of litigation, Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge James Kleinberg also will measure the credibility of expert witnesses and their theories in The People of California v. Atlantic Richfield, et al. Not only do the plaintiffs have to prove that a public nuisance exists in pre-1978 built private residences in the 10 California cities or counties seeking abatement costs of more than $1 billion, they have to prove that paint companies promoted the use of white lead pigments in residential paint during the first half of the last century knowing it would create today’s alleged public nuisance.

OK's True Cost Control Feature

Counsel fees are a critical element to workers' compensation claims. David DePaolo's recent blog post highlights how counsel fees motivate some claim strategies in Oklahoma where a 30% fee prevails. Today's post was shared by WorkCompCentral and comes from daviddepaolo.blogspot.com

Most of the attention Oklahoma's reform is getting in the work comp world is about opt-out. But another minor provision of that law may be something more meaningful for traditional work comp systems to keep an eye on. Oklahoma for some time has had a "value added" provision on its books for attorney fees. In short, claimant attorneys fees are capped at 30%, but in the past that cap was available only if the employer admitted the claim, provided medical coverage and made a written settlement offer. Under Senate Bill 1062 all that is required now is that the employer make a written settlement offer, then the claimant attorney fee is capped at 30% of the difference between what the settlement offer is, and what the award actually ends up being. For instance, if an employer offers an injured worker a settlement of $10,000, the worker hires an attorney and obtains a $15,000 settlement, the claimant's attorney would only be entitled to attorney fees of up to 30% on the $5,000 difference between the two awards. Because the law in the past required admitting liability and providing medical services, many employers deferred making settlement offers, thus prolonging case adjudication, ergo expense. Since employers would have to admit the claim in order to invoke the cap on attorney fees, claimants' attorneys began adding additional body parts to increase the value of the case and make it more difficult for employers to admit the claim - employers were loath to admit to body parts that they...

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Nation’s Biggest Assisted Living Chain Agrees to Pay $2.2 Million to Settle Claims of Cheating on Wages

Wages in workers' compensation claims determine rates pf payment. The higher the wage usually, the higher the benefit payment. Today's post was shared by FairWarning and comes from www.fairwarning.org

Workers who care for frail seniors win settlement from Emeritus Senior Living. The chain, the country’s largest assisted living company, agreed to pay up to $2.2 million to settle claims that it routinely underpaid workers at dozens of California operations. Hands-on workers at Emeritus centers – non-salaried aides and support staffers who provide care and clean — alleged in a suit that the company had not only shortchanged them in their pay, but also violated state laws on mandated meal times and rest periods.

Report Recommends Raising Workers' Compensation Premiums

The California "too good to be true" reform effort, was just that, too good to be true. Rates are going up and benefits are going down. Today's post was shared by votersinjuredatwork and comes from www.californiahealthline.org

Workers' compensation premiums in California should increase by 3.4% in 2014, according to a report by the Workers Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau, the Sacramento Bee's "Capitol Alert" reports.The report represents a non-binding recommendation for insurers (Walters, "Capitol Alert," Sacramento Bee, 8/12). Background In September 2012, Gov. Jerry Brown (D) signed into law a bill (SB 863) that overhauled the state's workers' compensation system. The law -- by Sens. Kevin de León (D-Los Angeles) and Jose Solorio (D-Anaheim) -- changed the formula used to calculate benefits for injured workers, increasing their compensation by an average of 29%. It also eliminated benefits for certain health conditions that often are subject to lawsuits, such as psychiatric problems, sexual dysfunction and sleep loss.

Limit urged for cancer-causing chromium in California drinking water

Today's post was shared by FairWarning and comes from www.latimes.com 

State public health officials Thursday proposed the nation's first drinking-water standard for the carcinogen hexavalent chromium, at a level that elicited sighs of relief from municipal water managers and criticism from environmentalists.

At 10 parts per billion, the standard is 500 times greater than the non-enforceable public health goal set two years ago by the state Environmental Protection Agency.The Department of Public Health described the proposed limit as a balance of public health, cost and treatment technology, but the agency acknowledged that economics were a key consideration.

Mark Starr, deputy director of the Center for Environmental Health, said the state's aim was to determine the lowest possible limit for the toxic heavy metal "given the technology available and the cost in order to protect public health."

Environmentalists said the 10 parts per billion standard — the equivalent of about 10 drops in an Olympic-sized pool — was far too high. "Five hundred times higher than safe levels is not protective of public health," said Avinash Kar, an attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council, which sued the state to issue the long-delayed standard.

Walmart CEO Mike Duke Pushes Back Against Company's Minimum Wage Reputation

The struggle to increase minimum wages continues. Some perceptual targets such as Walmart are trying to spin the story a to a different perspective. Today's post was shared by Huffington Post and comes from www.huffingtonpost.com

Fast food and retail workers across the country have taken to the streets this year to decry their low wages. But the CEO of Walmart, which is often a target for criticism in that battle, claims a very small share of its workers actually make the bare minimum. “I think less than one percent of our associates make the minimum wage,” Walmart CEO Mike Duke said in an interview with CNBC's Maria Bartiromo. "The vast majority of our associates are paid more than that.” More specifically, less than one half of one percent of Walmart's hourly associates make their state or federal minimum wage, according to a Walmart spokesman. The company claims that full-time Walmart workers make $12.78 per hour on average, much more than the federal minimum wage of $7.25. Yet that figure excludes part-time workers, a group that likely makes up a substantial share of Walmart's workforce, thought not its majority, according to the company.