WCRI Continues to Build Baseline to Monitor Impact of California's Workers' Comp Reforms |
But the $64,000 question is whether IMR will actually reduce medical costs
By Thomas A. Robinson, JD
 As proponents and critics of controversial Senate Bill 863 - California's latest legislative effort to "reform" the state's workers' compensation laws - continue their argument about the relative efficacies of the legislation, they will need to bear in mind at least one important factor not known during the debate of the bill: that while medical payments per comp claim had grown rapidly from 2006 to 2009, such costs per claim had already begun to moderate in the two years preceding passage of the law. That is one of the important conclusions offered in a recent study by Rui Yang, published and released by the Workers' Compensation Research Institute. The study, entitled "CompScopeTM Medical Benchmarks for California, 14th Edition," continues to build a baseline for monitoring the impact of SB 863...read more.
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unreasonable denial of medical treatment by abruptly withdrawing authorization for injured worker's opioid pain medication |
Both utilization review physician and MTUS expressly recommended slow tapering of opioid pain medications
The WCAB, in a split panel opinion, rescinded a WCJ's order denying the applicant's petition for penalty under Labor Code § 5814, and held that a penalty was justified as the applicant had established that the defendant unreasonably delayed or denied medical treatment for his 1/22/78 back and neck injuries by abruptly withdrawing authorization for his narcotic/opioid pain medication, including diazepam and Norco, based upon reliance on the utilization review process...read more. |
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prevalence of opioids in calif. workers' comp holding at near-record highs |
 Despite efforts to curb the use and cost of opioids in California workers' comp, new CWCI research finds the use of these drugs has remained at record levels since 2010, that virtually the same 3% of high-volume Schedule II opioid prescribing doctors continue to write more than half of the prescriptions, and that nearly half of the prescriptions are for minor injuries where medical evidence does not clearly support Schedule II opioid use...read more.
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Monitoring SB 863 Reforms
Sitting 9 to 5 in the Workplace: Can We Change That Sedentary Way of Living? by Teresa McLoughlin Rice, Esq. 
