Most folks are holding on to their wallet, hoping that the housing market does not crater further, taking more homes underwater.

And it's not comforting to see the bond market start to take down the Spanish and Italian economy along with French banks.

It's the world we live in.

Ah, to remember back to the time there was a just war. The War On Poverty.
Some of you may recall Michael Harrington's book, The Other America, written in 1962:
http://www3.niu.edu/~td0raf1/1960s/Othe ... xcerpt.htm

From statistics, it looks like we're devolving back to a land of more poverty.
It's sad, it's shameful, but it could get a lot worse than it is now.

Sabrina Tavernise reports in yesterday's New York Times that:
"Another 2.6 million people slipped into poverty in the United States last year, the Census Bureau reported Tuesday, and the number of Americans living below the official poverty line, 46.2 million people, was the highest number in the 52 years the bureau has been publishing figures on it."

Here is a link to the poverty statistics on the Census Bureau website:
http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/poverty/poverty.html

Most everyone reading this blog-whether you are a workers' comp claimant or a workers' comp professional-is involved in a social safety net program, our workers' comp program. It's good to put our program in perspective as we see how the overall social safety net countrywide is doing.

Here is a link to the New York Times piece by Ms. Tavernise:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/14/us/14 ... amp;st=cse

Stay tuned.

Julius Young
ww.workerscompzone.com
www.boxerlaw.com

Confounding the expectations of many workers' comp pundits, the City and County of San Francisco has filed a Petition for Review with the California Supreme Court in the Ogilvie case.

The Petition for review was filed on September 7,2011.

The argument used by Danny Chou, Chief of Complex and Special Litigation for the City and County of San Francisco, is twofold.

First, the City/County claims that "Allowing injured employees to rebut their scheduled rating by showing that their actual percentage loss of futute earnings is greater than their scheduled rating contravenes the legislature's intent".

Second, the City & County argues that "Because the Court of Appeal decision will significantly increase workers' compensation costs for employers, this petition presents an important question of law that warrants review".

It's discretionary as to whether the California Supreme Court will take the case. Relatively few workers' comp cases are heard by the court. Recently the California Supreme Court refused to entertain an appeal of the California Court of Appeals, 6th District in Guzman.

But it's also worth noting that employers and workers' comp insurers have had several big victories in the California Supreme Court, including the Brodie case on apportionment and the recent Baker case on how pensions are calculated in high-disability cases.

Many observers thought that an appeal to the California Supreme Court would not be filed.

First, the 1st District opinion in Ogilvie actually remands the matter to the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board for further development of the record. So many believe that the issues are not ripe.

Second, there are some in the employer community who believe that the language in the 1st District Court of Appeals decision will be helpful in defending claims.
Specifically, they believe that the Court of Appeals decision essentially resurrected the concepts of Hertz v. Aguilar, a case that is no longer officially citable.

We should know in about 60 days whether the Supreme Court takes the case. If it does, it could be about two years until a decsion is rendered.

Here is a link to view the 1st District Ogilvie decision which is being appealed:
http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/opinions/do ... 126344.PDF

Stay tuned.

Julius Young
www.workerscompzone.com
www.boxerlaw.com

The California legislature sprints to the end of its session tonight.

In the next few days we'll see what emerged after various floor votes.

Here are some updates (as of this afternoon) on some bills that were under consideration:

AB 378 (Solorio) (compound drug pricing)
After failing in a vote on 9/7/2011 by a margin of 15-6, with many senators not voting, the bill was amended on 9/8/11. In the 9/7/11 vote, no votes included Democrats Charles Calderon and Gloria Negrete McLeod.
Senate Floor Amendments of 9/8/11 clarify the reimbursement rates of physician dispensed compound drugs. The text of the bill as of 9/8/11 can be found here:
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/11-12/bil ... n_v94.html

AB 375 (Skinner)(presumption of compensability of MRSA acquired by hospital employees). This bill was scheduled for 3rd reading today.

AB 584 (Fong) (requires UR by California doctors) This bill is headed to the Governor. The bill was passed by the Senate on a vote you can find here:
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/11-12/bil ... floor.html

SB 923 (DeLeon) (revision of doctor payment methodology). This bill was amended yet again and here is the version as of yesterday, 9/8/11:
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/11-12/bil ... sm_v92.pdf

An analysis of SB 923 is found here:
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/11-12/bil ... floor.html

AB 947 (Solorio) (extends eligibility for temporary disability for up to 240 weeks for certain workers who have had a surgery and whose TD would otherwise expire). This bill will be on its way to the Governor. Here is the vote tally in the Assembly, which passed the bill 49 to 27:
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/11-12/bil ... floor.html

The final analysis of AB 947, which is effective for injuries after 1/1/2012, is here:
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/11-12/bil ... floor.html

As I write this, I'm unclear on the status of AB 1155 (Alejo) (outlawing discrimination in apportionment). But it would be surprising if this bill did not sail through both houses of the Capitol.

As noted in my last post, SB 432 (DeLeon) (fitted vs flat sheets) and SB 863
(Lieu) (lien statute of limitations) did not make it through the legislative gauntlet.

Already on the way to the Governor is AB 397 (Monning) (requires contractors to show a valid certificate of insurance or self insurance before renewing contractor license). Also on the way to Gov. Brown is AB 211 (Cedillo) (revision of the job displacement voucher process).

Stay tuned.

Julius Young
www.workerscompzone.com
www.boxerlaw.com

Everything posted here may be moot or changed by the time you read this, but here are some updates based on currently available info:

Still up for consideration are:
AB 947 (Solorio) (expands eligibility for TD from 104 weeks up to 240 weeks where TD would otherwise run out after a surgery)
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/11-12/bil ... floor.html

AB 1155 (Alejo) (bans discrimination in apportionment determination based on race, sex, genetics etc). This bill passed out of the Seanate and goes back to the Assembly. Here is the vote tally in the California Senate, which appears to break down on party lines:
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/11-12/bil ... floor.html

AB 228 (Fuentes) (allows SCIF to sell coverage for out of state employees of California firms). As of early today this bill was still in the Insurance Committee:
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/11-12/bil ... tatus.html

AB 378 (Solorio) (compound drug regulation). This bill was rejected in the Senate on a vote yesterday (Ayes 15, Noes 6), but may come back for another vote. A number of Senators did not vote on the measure yesterday.

AB 375 (Skinner) (would create presumption that blood borne MRSA acquired in hospital direct patient care is industrial) appears to be stalling.
A Senate vote yesterday was 20 yes and 15 no but the bill may be reconsidered.

AB 923 (DeLeon) (requires adoption of a new medical fee schedule) was as of this morning in "third reading":
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/11-12/bil ... tatus.html

Here is the current analysis of AB 923, which has been repeatedly amended:
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/11-12/bil ... floor.html

SB 863 (Lieu) (statute of limitations for liens). This bill appears to be dead for this session, having been "Ordered to inactive file on request of Assembly Member Charles Calderon"
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/11-12/bil ... tatus.html

SB 432 (DeLeon) (fitted vs flat sheets in hotels). This appears dead for this year:
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/11-12/bil ... tatus.html

As noted above, by the time you read some of this, fate could have changed on some of these measures. With Republicans lacking juice in the Capitol, many of these issues will be decided by coalitions of swing Democrats.
On several issues, the California Medical Association and the California Society for Industrial Medicine (CSIMS) are major players in discussions.

Stay tuned.

Julius Young
www.workerscompzone.com
www.boxerlaw.com

Each year as the legislature winds down, we get to a point where the picture gets foggy.

Bills that seemed to have lots of support and traction start to stall. Bills that seemed dead can spring to life as deals are struck, amendments made, and rules suspended.

Getting information is hard. The official legislative website (www.leginfo.ca.gov) lags behind developments. The Capitol press corps has shrunk mightily. And even in more robust times for California journalism, workers' comp was not high on the agenda.

With all that said, here's a worthy piece detailing the progress of the bill to
set fees for compound medications, by John Howard in Capitol Weekly:
http://www.capitolweekly.net/article.ph ... uv8mjrd2pb

The concept of reining in expanding compound drug costs started this legislative session with rare support. Here's my earlier piece on the "unusual coalition":
http://www.workerscompzone.com/index.ph ... 111-205647

Let's hope this coalition does not unravel.

Julius Young
www.workerscompzone.com
www.boxerlaw.com