Bill Text: HI SB2127 | 2014 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Workers' Compensation; Penalty; Temporary Partial Disability Benefits; Temporary Total Disability Benefits; Eligibility Determination
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2014-02-14 - Report adopted; Passed Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referred to WAM. [SB2127 Detail]
Download: Hawaii-2014-SB2127-Amended.html
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THE SENATE |
S.B. NO. |
2127 |
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TWENTY-SEVENTH LEGISLATURE, 2014 |
S.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 incentive to return to part-time work because the law does not require employers to timely pay the injured workers the 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 fourteen calendar days from the end of the employee's workweek to process the temporary partial disability benefits is more than enough time to process temporary partial disability benefits rightfully due and owing to injured workers. Accordingly, this Act creates a late payment penalty to incentivize employers to timely disburse temporary partial disability benefits.
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 the injured worker is entitled to compensation. This Act clarifies that a determination of eligibility for disability benefits does not depend on a specialized form certified by the treating physician, but rather on a determination by the injured worker's primary care physician's certification of the injured worker's dates of disability or an examination of the injured worker's entire available medical records by another physician in the event the injured worker's primary care physician is not available.
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, or if temporary partial disability benefits are not paid by the
employer or insurance carrier within fourteen calendar days after the end of
the employee's workweek as defined under section 387-1, 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[.], including compliance with section 78-13.
(b) In addition to the compensation owed by the employer, the penalty shall be due and payable without the necessity of an order or decision from the director.
(c) An employee's eligibility to receive temporary total disability or temporary partial disability benefits shall be determined by the employee's primary care physician's certification of the employee's dates of disability or by an examination of the employee's entire available medical records by another physician 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 provided in section 386-96, shall not automatically disqualify the employee from temporary total disability or temporary partial disability benefits. Contemporaneous certification of an employee's disability status may be waived and retroactive certification of disability may be allowed; provided that the employee's primary care physician has served as the employee's previous physician or, if the employee's primary care physician is not available, another physician has the opportunity to examine the employee's previous medical records in the pending claim. Retroactive certification of disability may be requested only once for the entire claim and shall be made within twelve months of the date of the request. 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. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.
SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2050.
Report Title:
Workers' Compensation; Penalty; Temporary Partial Disability Benefits; Temporary Total Disability Benefits; Eligibility Determination
Description:
Imposes a penalty on an employer who does not pay an employee temporary partial disability benefits within fourteen calendar days after the end of the employee's workweek. Clarifies that an eligibility determination for disability benefits depends on a determination by the employee's primary care physician's certification of the employee's dates of disability or by an examination of the employee's entire available medical records by another physician in the event the employee's primary care physician is not available. Establishes that failure of the employee's primary care physician to certify the dates of disability in an interim report does not automatically disqualify the employee from disability benefits. Allows contemporaneous certification to be waived and retroactive certification of disability to be allowed under certain conditions. Effective 07/01/50. (SD1)
The summary description of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.
