Despite some helpful amendments, three bills made it out of committee with onerous requirements impacting how employers manage workers’ compensation.

HB 2409 impacts certain employer penalties and requires that individuals handling self-insured claims must be licensed according to rules set by L&I. Approved amendments include:

• Setting a cap of $1,700 for self-insurance penalties; and
• Replacing the original fiduciary duty of good faith and fair dealing with a “responsibility of fair conduct relating to all aspects of a claim.”

HB 2409 is now in the House Appropriations Committee.

SB 6440 places significant restrictions on the use of independent medical examinations (IME) by Labor and Industries (L&I) and self-insurers for workers’ compensation claims. Amendments to the bill included:

• Removing the limitation of IMEs to a new condition;
• Eliminating the limitation on exams;
• Modifying the requirement to delay exams so a worker may consider a specialist consultation;
• Giving an examiner the right to object to the recording of an exam; and
• Authorizing the use of telemedicine if an exam is not in a place reasonably convenient to the worker.

However, the bill retains onerous requirements such as allowing workers to miss an IME without a no-show fee, retaining the 100-mile requirement for testimony, and convening a workgroup to consider further changes to the IME statutes.

Even with the changes, AWC remains opposed to SB 6440 as the current system for using IMEs in the claims process provides both the claimant and the insurer with adequate access to resources to properly manage and resolve claims.

SB 6440 is now in the Senate Ways & Means Committee.

SB 6552 originally eliminated the three-day waiting period from the date of injury to be eligible for the receipt of time lost. As amended, the bill retains the three-day waiting period but reduces the duration of time a worker must be disabled to waive the waiting period, also known as the retroactive period, from 14 days to seven days. The change would make Washington’s retroactive period the shortest in the nation.

SB 6552 is now in the Senate Rules Committee.