Workers’ compensation changes discussed
The Business and Labor Committee heard testimony March 18 on two bills that would change certain provisions of Nebraska’s workers’ compensation system.
LB324, sponsored by Omaha Sen. Scott Lautenbaugh, would revise the interest rate applicable to a workers’ compensation benefit award in cases in which an attorney’s fee is allowed from the rate provided in statute – currently 14 percent – to the judgment rate.
The bill also would allow employees, prior to the time of sustaining an injury, to “opt out” of having first injury reports relating to their workplace injuries made available for public inspection or copying except under specified circumstances.
In addition, the bill stipulates that no compensation would be allowed if an employee falsely represented his or her medical condition at the time of hiring and a causal connection existed between the false representation and an injury.
Robert Hallstrom, representing the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce and Nebraskans for Workers’ Compensation Equity and Fairness, testified in support of the bill. The 14 percent interest rate may have been appropriate when it was put in place, he said, but is out line with current interest rates.
Hallstrom said interest rates in workers’ compensation benefit cases should be tied to other money judgment rates.
“Virtually all other money judgments are at 2 percent,” he said.
Robert Moodie of the Nebraska Association of Trial Attorneys testified in opposition to the bill, saying the 14 percent interest rate applies only when an award is not paid within 30 days. The provision is based on the same principle that encourages people to pay their taxes on time, he said.
“Any employer that pays benefits when they’re supposed to pay them is not going to pay any interest,” Moodie said.
LB584, sponsored by Papillion Sen. Jim Smith, would require the scope and duration of medical, surgical and hospital services to be provided in accordance with the official disability guidelines published by the Work Loss Data Institute.
Under the bill, no insurer, risk-management pool or self-insured employer would be responsible for charges for medical, surgical or hospital services not provided in accordance with the official disability guidelines unless such services were:
• provided in a medical emergency;
• preauthorized by the insurer, risk-management pool or self-insured employer; or
• approved by an independent medical examiner.
If the parties to a dispute agreed to use an independent medical examiner, the medical findings of the independent medical examiner would be binding on the parties and constitute a final resolution.
Smith said the bill would save time and money by eliminating unnecessary back and forth between providers and payers.
“Twenty-eight states have adopted evidence-based utilization and treatment guidelines and have seen success with this policy,” he said.
Dr. Doug Martin of St. Luke’s Center for Occupational Health Excellence in Sioux City testified in support of the bill. He said the involvement of employers, attorneys, human resource professionals and state and federal agencies can complicate and delay treatment of injured workers.
“It’s not just the doctor and the patient,” Martin said, adding that following specified treatment guidelines would streamline the process.
“The goal here is only on one single thing,” he said, “and that is to do what is in the best interest of the Nebraska patient worker.”
Omaha orthopedic surgeon Ian Crabb testified in opposition to the bill, saying it would not improve the state’s workers’ compensation system. Most disputes regarding claims involve whether or not an injury happened at work, he said, not whether the treatment provided to a claimant is appropriate.
Furthermore, he said, providers already have access to evidence-based treatment guidelines.
“From a treatment standpoint … the guidelines don’t give me much,” Crabb said. “It is just a laundry list of possible options.”
The committee took no immediate action on either bill.
