Bruce Bentley

The Ratings Bureau for Employee Compensation Insurance has proposed a 2.7% increase in the pure consultancy premium rates for the fall of 2021, mainly due to "significant" changes in the state's fee schedule for medical fees and medical-legal fees. The proposed average rate for 500 worker classifications is $ 1.50 per $ 100 wage bill. This emerges from the bureau's approval statement filed with the California Department of Insurance on Thursday, which must approve the proposal. If approved, the filing would take effect on September 1, 2021. The proposed rates are based in part on changes adopted by the California Department of Workers Compensation in 2021. This includes changes to the Assessment and Administration section of the Official Medical Fee Schedule effective March 1st and the Medical Legal Fee Schedule effective March 1st April 1st. Overall, the WCIRB estimates a total cost increase of 1.5% due to these two schedule changes. The office also said th...

The California Department of Workers' Compensation on Thursday proposed changes to its rules for qualified medical assessors that would add four hours to the mandatory disability assessment report writing course to include anti-bias training and case law review sessions to facilitate. Other changes to the proposed rules, which the department posted on its online forum, would require that part of the QME training be conducted in person, and evaluators must declare, under penalty of perjury, that they have not discriminated against any party. The department also suggests reviewing the rules for appointing and reappointing QMEs. According to the proposal, providers would have to complete a 16-hour disability assessment report writing course before being appointed QME. The proposed rules would also require QMEs to complete 16 hours of training every 24 months. Under current regulations, vendors must complete a 12-hour course prior to their appointment and earn 12-hour training ...