Several workers’ compensation bills are being heard in the Senate this week. The bills include claim resolution agreements, industrial insurance medical exams, and suspending cost-of-living adjustments.

SB 5046, by Sen. Steve Conway (D–Tacoma), is a primarily technical bill that addresses workers’ compensation claim resolution agreements. Among other things, the bill requires the Board of Industrial Insurance Appeals to provide copies of final claim resolution settlement agreements to the Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) and permits claim settlement resolutions to be paid in a lump sum or on a structured basis.

SB 5102, by Sen. Derek Stanford (D–Bothell), changes the way that industrial insurance medical exams are conducted for the purpose of verifying workers’ compensation claims. The bill limits medical exams for claims: one prior to a final order allowing or denying a new claim, one for permanent disability evaluations, and one for applications to reopen a claim. Additional exams may be conducted after a final order to reopen a claim and prior to any permanent disability evaluation. For self-insured employers, the bill requires 28 days written notice of scheduled medical exams and authorizes L&I to adjudicate a worker’s timely disputes of exams. Lastly, the bill gives workers the right to record required industrial insurance medical exams and sets rules for the worker’s use of recordings. It also allows a worker to have an observer at all examinations.

SB 5137, by Sen. Curtis King (R–Yakima), suspends any cost-of-living adjustments (COLA) for workers’ compensation claims until June 30, 2022. The bill requires annual COLA to reflect changes in the Seattle-area Consumer Price Index, and caps annual adjustments at 3% going forward. Current worker’s compensation claims (whose COLA was suspended until 2022) are set at the July 1, 2020 average monthly wage.

Dates to remember

SB 5046, SB 5102, and SB 5137 are scheduled for public hearing in the Senate Labor, Commerce & Tribal Affairs Committee at 8:00 am on Thursday, January 21.