Bill Text: HI HB679 | 2016 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Workers' Compensation; Eligibility Determination
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2015-12-17 - Carried over to 2016 Regular Session. [HB679 Detail]
Download: Hawaii-2016-HB679-Amended.html
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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
H.B. NO. |
679 |
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TWENTY-EIGHTH LEGISLATURE, 2015 |
H.D. 1 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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A BILL FOR AN ACT
RELATING TO WORKERS' COMPENSATION.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
SECTION 1. The legislature finds that injured workers lack the incentive to return to part-time work because the law does not require employers to timely pay the injured workers temporary partial disability benefits. When injured workers do not return to part-time work, the costs of doing business increase.
The legislature further finds that disabled workers are often unfairly denied disability benefits because their physicians do not complete and sign a specialized form that certifies that the injured worker is entitled to compensation. In addition, temporary total disability and temporary partial disability benefits are treated differently under the law even though both types of benefits are deemed compensation under section 386-1, Hawaii Revised Statutes.
The purpose of this Act is to provide a more uniform application of workers' compensation case law and statutory entitlements that are due to disabled employees.
SECTION 2. Section 386-92, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:
"§386-92 Default in payments of compensation, penalty. (a) If any compensation payable under the terms of a final decision or judgment is not paid by a self-insured employer or an insurance carrier within thirty-one days after it becomes due, as provided by the final decision or judgment, or if any temporary total disability benefits are not paid by the employer or carrier within ten days, exclusive of Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays, after the employer or carrier has been notified of the disability, and where the right to benefits are not controverted in the employer's initial report of industrial injury or where temporary total disability benefits are terminated in violation of section 386-31, there shall be added to the unpaid compensation an amount equal to twenty per cent thereof payable at the same time as, but in addition to, the compensation, unless the nonpayment is excused by the director after a showing by the employer or insurance carrier that the payment of the compensation could not be made on the date prescribed therefor owing to the conditions over which the employer or carrier had no control.
(b) An employee's eligibility for temporary total disability benefits or temporary partial disability benefits shall be determined by certification from the employee's primary care physician every thirty days or by an examination of the employee's available medical records by a physician who has been involved in the employee's treatment if the employee's primary care physician is not available. The failure of an employee's primary care physician to certify the dates of disability in an interim report, as required under section 386-96, shall not disqualify the employee from receiving temporary total disability benefits or temporary partial disability benefits. Contemporaneous certification of an employee's disability status may be waived and retroactive certification of disability can be allowed; provided that the disability is certified by the employee's primary care physician or another physician who has been involved in the employee's treatment and has an opportunity to examine the employee's previous medical records in the current pending claim. Retroactive certification of disability may be requested for the entire claim. This subsection shall apply only during the period that an employee's injuries have not reached medical stabilization or the employee is enrolled in the vocational rehabilitation process."
SECTION 3. New statutory material is underscored. SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
Report Title:
Workers' Compensation; Eligibility Determination
Description:
Amends workers' compensation law for temporary total and partial disability benefits through certification by a physician. Allows for contemporaneous certification and retroactive certification of disability status. Applies only during the period that injuries have not reached medical stabilization or enrollment in a vocational rehabilitation process. (HB679 HD1)
The summary description of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.
