Bill Text: HI HCR137 | 2020 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Requesting The Department Of Labor And Industrial Relations To Conduct A Study To Assess The Causes Of Non-compliance With The State's Workers' Compensation System.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-03-11 - Referred to LAB, CPC, referral sheet 40 [HCR137 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2020-HCR137-Introduced.html

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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.C.R. NO.	137
THIRTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2020
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

requesting the department of labor and industrial relations to conduct a study to assess the causes of non-compliance with the State's workers' compensation system.

 

 

 

     WHEREAS, in 1915, the Hawaii Territorial Legislature adopted the first workers' compensation law in the State; and

 

     WHEREAS, under Hawaii's workers' compensation law, employees who are injured or disabled on the job are provided medical treatment and a fixed monetary compensation; and

 

     WHEREAS, Hawaii's workers' compensation system, an all- important part of American social insurance, was introduced to provide medical and financial assistance to workers who are injured or disabled on the job; and

 

     WHEREAS, commonly cited goals of the workers' compensation system include:

 

     (1)  Promoting injury prevention;

 

     (2)  Providing timely and quality medical service to injured workers;

 

     (3)  Providing adequate and equitable benefits for injured workers;

 

     (4)  Providing timely and non-litigious delivery of benefits;

 

     (5)  Promoting a speedy return to work; and

 

     (6)  Controlling the cost of administering the workers' compensation system, which is paid by employers; and

     WHEREAS, the workers' compensation system is intended to help workers who are injured on the job and ensure that workers with legitimate claims get the benefits and treatment they need to recover and return to work; and

 

     WHEREAS, Hawaii's workers' compensation system is one of the most complex in the nation and, because of its unique makeup, some areas within the system are problematic and require stakeholders to come together as an industry to effect meaningful change; and

 

     WHEREAS, some medical providers "hold treatment hostage" unless they are paid a certain amount, which is not allowed by the medical fee schedule; and

 

WHEREAS, other specialists and medical providers give up caring for injured workers after providing treatment and not being paid for services rendered until months or years later; and

 

WHEREAS, there are medical providers who routinely charge insurers the State-authorized and -mandated medical fee schedule for prescription drugs, yet do not get paid based on statute; and

 

     WHEREAS, some medical providers also routinely overcharge employers for prescription drugs and durable medical equipment and demand payment, as well as prolong treatment unnecessarily, thereby impeding the injured worker's recovery and return to work; and

 

     WHEREAS, some medical providers are forced to stand up and fight for their patients whose treatment is prolonged unnecessarily by insurers who ignore existing laws and community standards of care only to enhance their profits, thereby impeding the injured worker's recovery and return to work; and

 

     WHEREAS, some insurance companies and employers routinely deny claims "pending investigation", even though the law contains no provision explicitly allowing them to do so; and

     WHEREAS, some insurance companies and employers routinely:

 

     (1)  Deny complete or reasonable and necessary treatment plans; and

 

     (2)  Ignore legitimate billings instead of controverting the claim for services,

 

even though the law does not allow them to do so; and

 

WHEREAS, the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations has not updated the workers' compensation medical fee schedule to comport with decisions awarded by the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations' Disability Compensation Division and therefore employers are not informed as to how to comply with new decisions and how much to reimburse for items previously not covered by the medical fee schedule; and

 

     WHEREAS, even though the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations is attempting to update the medical fee schedule to comport with decisions awarded by the Disability Compensation Division, insurers fail to reimburse for items previously supported by decisions made by the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations relating to the medical fee schedule for treatment required and guaranteed by the Hawaii Supreme Court's decision in Pulawa v. Oahu Construction Co., Ltd.; and

 

     WHEREAS, it is crucial that the State understand the causes of non-compliance with its workers' compensation system in order to determine solutions to these issues and concerns; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Thirtieth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2020, the Senate concurring, that the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations is requested to conduct a study to assess the causes of non-compliance with the State's workers' compensation system; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations is requested to complete the study no later than November 30, 2020; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations is requested to submit the results of the study, including findings, recommendations, and any proposed legislation, to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2021; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a certified copy of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Director of Labor and Industrial Relations.

 

 

 

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title: 

Workers' Compensation System; Non-Compliance; DLIR Study