At the end of the year its becoming clearer that 2 things are NOT happening:

The sale of SCIF (or a part of SCIF) is not happening. It's no big surprise that this has become tied up in court. I suspect that many legislators who voted for this sale knew that the proposed sale was a big shell game.
But it looked good enough on paper for legislators to use it to kick the budget debacle down the road a bit.

Here's the L.A. Times article on the SCIF sale:
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-s ... 0174.story

Meanwhile, Susan Gard (Chief of Legislation and Policy at the California Division of Workers' Compensation) was quoted today in the Workers' Comp Executive as saying the the DWC will not unveil a new PD rating statue by January 1, 2010 as required by statute. Gard is said to have noted that the DWC is deferring action on a fix for the PDRS.

The DWC had begun the process of developing another schedule a couple of years ago, but never completed the process. The newsflash from Brad Cain of the Executive indicates that the DWC is waiting to see whether a legislative fix arises.

No big surprise there. Some stakeholders were involved in secret talks months ago, and its likely that we'll see talks among various stakeholders heating up in early 2010.

Meanwhile, the DWC ignores a legislative mandate to refresh and revise the 2005 PD rating schedule. In a case of possible unintended consequences, the DWC's refusal to meet its mandated obligation may strengthen the hand of proponents of the Almaraz II and Ogilvie cases, which allow individual applicants to challenge elements of the PD rating (Almaraz) and/or elements of the "adjustment factor" (Ogilvie).

Stay tuned.

I'll be following up my last post ("The Twelve Days of Christmas") with the Top 10 Developments in California Workers Comp of 2009.

Stay tuned.

Julius Young
www.boxerlaw.com

(Workerscompzone awoke from a dream after seeing "Nine", the Rob Marshall homage to the Italian cinema era of Fellini and Antonioni, featuring Penelope Cruz, Nicole Kidman, Sophia Loren etc etc; but workerscompzone's dream was more pedestrian.....a choir was singing "The Twelve Days of Christmas" as the WCAB staff and comp community litigators left the local WCAB on Christmas eve....."

"On the first day of Christmas
My true love sent to me
A stip with an Ogilvie-eee"

"On the second day of Christmas
My true love sent to me
Two EAMS licenses
And a stip with an Ogilvie-eee"

"On the third day of Christmas
My true love sent to me
3 Benson filings
2 EAMS licenses
And a stip with an Ogilvie-eee"

"On the fourth day of Christmas
My true love sent to me
4 XYZ Colas
3 Benson filings
2 EAMS licenses
And a stip with an Ogilvie-eee"

"On the fifth day of Christmas
My true love sent to me
5 Premier liens
4 XYZ colas
3 Benson filings
2 EAMS licenses
And a stip with an Ogilvie-eee"

"On the sixth day of Christmas
My true love sent to me
6 Cheez-Whiz studies
5 Premier liens
4 XYZ colas
3 Benson filings
2 EAMS licenses
And a stip with an Ogilvie-eee"

"On the seventh day of Christmas
My true love sent to me
7 writs pending
6 Cheez-Whiz studies
5 Premier liens
4 XYZ colas
3 Benson filings
2 EAMS licenses
And a stip with an Ogilvie-eee"

"On the eighth day of Christmas
My true love sent to me
8 UR docs denying
7 writs pending
6 Cheez-Whiz studies
5 Premier liens
4 XYZ colas
3 Benson filings
2 EAMS licenses
And a stip with an Ogilvie-eee"

"On the ninth day of Christmas
My true love sent to me
9 Guides experts guiding
8 UR docs denying
7 writs pending
6 Cheez-Whiz studies
5 Premier liens
4 XYZ colas
3 Benson filings
2 EAMS licenses
And a stip with an Ogilvie-eee"

"On the tenth day of Christmas
My true love sent to me
10 RAND researchers writing
9 Guides experts guiding
8 UR docs denying
7 writs pending
6 Cheez-Whiz studies
5 Premier liens
4 XYZ colas
3 Benson filings
2 EAMS licenses
And a stip with an Ogilvie-eee"

"On the eleventh day of Christmas
My true love sent to me
11 judges furloughing
10 RAND researchers writing
9 Guides experts guiding
8 UR docs denying
7 writs pending
6 Cheez-Whiz studies
5 Premier liens
4 XYZ colas
3 Benson filings
2 EAMS licenses
And a stip with an Ogilvie-eee"

"On the twelfth day of Christmas
My true love sent to me
12 Almaraz ratings rising
11 judges furloughing
10 RAND researchers writing
9 Guides experts guiding
8 UR docs denying
7 writs pending
6 Cheez-Whiz studies
5 Premier liens
4 XYZ colas
3 Benson filings
2 EAMS licenses
And a stip with an Ogilvie-eee"

Happy holidays to my readers and all of my clients, friends and colleagues in the comp world.

Julius Young
www.boxerlaw.com

Some teaching hospitals have been pushing for the U.S. healthcare reform bills to include an expansion of monies to fund as many as 15% more doctor residency programs.

Is America underserved with medical doctors? What kinds of doctors do we need? Will more doctors fuel more demand for procedures and services, adding to the overall expense of our national healthcare system?

An answer to this question must start with an acknowledgement that some rural areas and some parts of urban areas are woefully underserved.

And most experts believe that we need more primary care doctors. Those doctors are in short supply, as new medical graduates tend to seek higher paying specialty positions. Those medical specialties are procedure driven, generating higher incomes.

In the California workers' comp world, medical treatment costs are a critical cost driver of system costs. Some might argue that we'd be better off to have more generalists treating California workers. In effect we already have many primary care doctors who practice "occupational medicine" in various industrial clinics. I'm not aware of any studies comparing the costs and outcomes of "occ med" treatments versus specialist treatments in California workers comp. Maybe there is such a study, but if not it would be interesting to see one.

Proponents of "occ med" believe that its good to have a gatekeeper who can provide needed care without the incentive to do lots of procedures or unnecessary tests.

But in some comp cases occ med doctors are slow to investigate conditions. Delaying ordering an MRI which eventually reveals a herniated disc requiring surgery is a delay which can have drastic economic impact on the worker.

The comp system aside, it's clear we need more primary care docs in the system overall. But is expanding residency programs the answer?

In a New York Times Op-ed piece "Doctors No One Needs" Shannon Brownlee and David Goodman argue that expanding doctor residency programs is not the answer:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/23/opini ... ee.html?em

Stay tuned for my next post, commentary on the 2009 CHSWC report on Californa workers comp.

Julius Young
www.boxerlaw.com

You, dear reader, may have visions of sugar plums in your head as you wait for Dancer, Prancer, Comet and Cupid to alight on your roof on Christmas eve.

But meanwhile, some folks are stewing, some are hi-fiving, and some are agonizing over the healthcare reform bill that's to be consdiered tomorrow by the Senate.

Harold Meyerson's piece in the Washington Post reveals the
concerns many labor officials have about the funding of the reform under the Senate version. The concern is that in bargaining many unions took generous healthcare benefit packages in lieu of wage increases.

Many of those workers' plans will now be taxed (or taxed in future years as inflation affects the formula). Many rank and file workers could be disgruntled by this approach. Meyerson notes that this was an issue which brought many workers into the Obama column in the race against McCain. So the unions and the administration have a political problem to solve.

Here is Meyerson's piece;
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 02842.html

Stay tuned.

Julius Young
www.boxerlaw.com

Ending months of speculation about a coming vacancy on California's Workers Compensation Appeals Board, Governor Schwarzenegger has elected to reappoint Commissioner Ronnie Caplane.

Many folks in the comp community had assumed that Caplane would not be reappointed. A Democrat, Caplane is probably the most liberal member of the WCAB and has been a dissenter in several of the most important cases over the past few years.

Those who know Caplane know that she is a bright, engaging force on the WCAB. Although she had not practiced workers' comp law for many years (Caplane raised a family with Joe Remcho, a renowned lawyer who specialized in election law and constitutional law before his tragic death in an accident some years ago), Caplane proved to be a quick study.

It's to the Governor's credit that he has not moved Caplane aside to make room for a political hack looking for "a place to land". Given the complexity the workers comp law and the many post SB 899 reform issues which are still in play, stability on the WCAB is good.

Stay tuned.

Over the holidays I will be covering the 10 Top Events in California workers' comp in 2009 and providing commentary on the CHSWC 2009 report on California workers' compensation.

Julius Young
www.boxerlaw.com