North Carolina recently adopted Senate Bill 174. This bill relates to the Industrial Commission rules that were approved by the NC Office of Administrative Hearings/Rules Review Committee (RRC) in December 2012 and subsequently became subject to legislative review after several objections were made. Notice of the July 18, 2013, enactment was received on July 22, 2013, and the bill became effective immediately. The impact includes, but is not limited to: 

• Disapproval of certain rules passed by the North Carolina Industrial Commission in December, 2012;
• Recommendations for substitutions for said rules; and

• Any new forms or substantive amendments to old forms adopted after July 1, 2013 and prepared by the Industrial Commission to facilitate or administer the NC Workers' Compensation Act, must be adopted in accordance with the Rules Section of the North Carolina Administrative Procedure Act.

New Hampshire recently adopted House Bill 546. Notification of the July 24, 2013, adoption was received on July 29, 2013, and the bill will become effective on January 1, 2014. It is specific to Workers' Compensation IME notices and mandates that if an employer or insurance carrier provides written notice to the injured worker regarding its request for an IME, the notice must:  

• Be given 10 days before the exam; and
• Include specific language.

Ohio has adopted changes with respect to who may be present at an IME. We were notified of the adoption on 8/14/13 and the rule became effective 8/19/13.

The significant change includes that representatives of the parties may not be present at the IME, however injured workers may have a relative present if they would like.

HB 2123 adds new sections of law to the Oregon Insurance Code including, but not limited to: 

• Establishing definitions formaximum allowable cost, multiple source drug, and network pharmacy;
• Requiring a PBM to register with the State and annually renew that registration;
• Describing the responsibilities of a PBM, including:
  • Ensuring all drugs on a list are available for purchase by pharmacies in the state,
  • Ensuring drugs on a PBM's list are not obsolete, and
  • Making a list available to a network PBM every 7 business days in a readily accessible and usable format; and
• Requiring a PBM to establish an appeals process for a network pharmacy to appeal reimbursement for a drug subject to maximum allowable cost pricing. 

Notice of the July 1, 2013, enactment was received on July 10, 2013, and the bill becomes effective January 1, 2014, except as noted in the summary. HB 2123 establishes new law.

Utah adopted changes to rule R612-200-1, related to first report of injury (FROI) and first aid. We were notified of the 8/1/13 adoption on 8/2/13 and the rule is effective 7/8/13.

The significant changes include, but are not limited to: 

• Creating a 7 day timeframe in which the employer must report a work-related injury unless the injury is treatable by first aid only.
• Defining what constitutes first aid medical care for purposes of determining what injuries must be reported.

• Providing a list of treatments that are not considered first aid.