In a powerful statement about his vision for a balanced and sustainable workers’ compensation system, Governor Jerry Brown has signed legislation to strip unnecessary costs out of the system and vetoed several proposals that would have increased costs and litigation.

By staying engaged throughout the legislative process and communicating directly with the Governor in recent weeks, YOU helped maintain fairness in the system, curb costly abuses and prevent further erosion of the changes enacted during the last decade.

Key actions by the Governor include:

AB 378 (Compound Drugs) – SIGNED. This bill, supported by labor, management and others, will establish a fee schedule for compound drugs, the prescribing of which has exploded by an astonishing 413% since 2006. AB 378 ensures that these pharmaceuticals are available to injured workers, but closes the fee schedule loophole that some were exploiting for profit.

AB 947 (Temporary Disability) – VETO . This bill would have rolled back the 104-week cap on Temporary Disability (TD) payments on specified workers’ compensation claims. Although the bill was amended, initial estimates pegged the cost at more than $200 million. In addition to higher benefit costs, AB 947 would have sparked a flood of new litigation as attorneys worked to make its provisions apply to the broadest set of cases, eviscerating the current benefit cap. Worse, it would have created incentive to delay medical treatment and drive more injured workers into surgery.

AB 1155 (Apportionment) – VETO. This bill would have unnecessarily prohibited apportionment on permanent disability claims that California courts have found is not allowed under existing law. In so doing, this bill would have created an opening for attorneys to challenge legitimate apportionment decisions and pushed disability costs back onto employers that were not the result of the workplace disability.

The Governor also vetoed legislation that would have created barriers to the process for reviewing medical treatment requests and the payment of the job displacement voucher and signed bills to streamline benefit notices for injured workers and set a fee schedule for vocational rehabilitation experts.

You can see a listing of the Governor’s actions on all workers’ compensation legislation here.