California AB 1643 Warning Memo From WCAN
The new California AB 1643 House Bill has caused quite a bit of controversy. WCAN has produced a reminder to contact Governor Brown to veto the bill. The bill summary is below.
Apportionment is basically assigning a permanent disability rating to only the new injury and to not allow the rating of previous injuries or conditions. Many states have the same type of rules/law on not rating old injures or conditions.
WCAN (Workers Compensation Action Network) produces the best charts and graphs in the Workers Comp world. Their California AB 1643 memo is here.
A similar attack on apportionment occurred a few years ago. Governor Brown’s Veto of AB 305 covered the same ground but from a different angle.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST
Existing workers’ compensation law generally requires employers to secure payment of workers’ compensation, including medical treatment, for injuries incurred by their employees that arise out of, or in the course of, employment. An employer is liable only for the percentage of the permanent disability directly caused by the injury arising out of, and occurring in the course of, employment.
This bill would prohibit apportionment of permanent disability, in the case of a physical injury occurring on or after January 1, 2017, from being based on pregnancy, menopause, osteoporosis, or carpal tunnel syndrome. The bill would also prohibit apportionment of permanent disability, in the case of a psychiatric injury occurring on or after January 1, 2017, from being based on psychiatric disability or impairment caused by any of those conditions.
