Bill Text: IA SF451 | 2019-2020 | 88th General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: A bill for an act relating to workers' compensation.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2019-03-06 - Subcommittee: Chapman, Bisignano, and R. Smith. S.J. 485. [SF451 Detail]

Download: Iowa-2019-SF451-Introduced.html

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Senate File 451 - Introduced
SENATE FILE 451
BY CELSI
A BILL FOR
An Act relating to workers’ compensation.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
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Section 1. Section 85.16, subsection 2, paragraph b, Code
2019, is amended by striking the paragraph.
Sec. 2. Section 85.18, Code 2019, is amended to read as
follows:
85.18 Contract to relieve not operative.
No contract, rule, or device whatsoever shall operate to
relieve the employer, in whole or in part, from any liability
created by this chapter except as herein provided. This
section does not create a private cause of action.
Sec. 3. Section 85.23, Code 2019, is amended to read as
follows:
85.23 Notice of injury —— failure to give.
Unless the employer or the employer’s representative shall
have actual knowledge of the occurrence of an injury received
within ninety days from the date of the occurrence of the
injury, or unless the employee or someone on the employee’s
behalf or a dependent or someone on the dependent’s behalf
shall give notice thereof to the employer within ninety days
from the date of the occurrence of the injury, no compensation
shall be allowed. For the purposes of this section , “date of
the occurrence of the injury” means the date that the employee
knew or should have known that the injury was work-related.
Sec. 4. Section 85.26, subsection 1, Code 2019, is amended
to read as follows:
1. An original proceeding for benefits under this chapter
or chapter 85A , 85B , or 86 , shall not be maintained in any
contested case unless the proceeding is commenced within two
years from the date of the occurrence of the injury for which
benefits are claimed or, if weekly compensation benefits are
paid under section 86.13 , within three years from the date of
the last payment of weekly compensation benefits. For the
purposes of this section , “date of the occurrence of the injury”
means the date that the employee knew or should have known that
the injury was work-related.
Sec. 5. Section 85.33, subsection 3, Code 2019, is amended
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to read as follows:
3. a. If an employee is temporarily, partially disabled and
the employer for whom the employee was working at the time of
injury offers to the employee suitable work consistent with the
employee’s disability the employee shall accept the suitable
work, and be compensated with temporary partial benefits.
If the employer offers the employee suitable work and the
employee refuses to accept the suitable work offered by the
with the same employer, the employee shall not be compensated
with temporary partial, temporary total, or healing period
benefits during the period of the refusal. Work offered at
the employer’s principal place of business or established
place of operation where the employee has previously worked is
presumed to be geographically suitable for an employee whose
duties involve travel away from the employer’s principal place
of business or established place of operation more than fifty
percent of the time. If suitable work is not offered by the
employer for whom the employee was working at the time of the
injury and the employee who is temporarily, partially disabled
elects to perform work with a different employer, the employee
shall be compensated with temporary partial benefits.
b. The employer shall communicate an offer of temporary
work to the employee in writing, including details of lodging,
meals, and transportation, and shall communicate to the
employee that if the employee refuses the offer of temporary
work, the employee shall communicate the refusal and the reason
for the refusal to the employer in writing and that during the
period of the refusal the employee will not be compensated with
temporary partial, temporary total, or healing period benefits,
unless the work refused is not suitable. If the employee
refuses the offer of temporary work on the grounds that the
work is not suitable, the employee shall communicate the
refusal, along with the reason for the refusal, to the employer
in writing at the time the offer of work is refused. Failure to
communicate the reason for the refusal in this manner precludes
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the employee from raising suitability of the work as the reason
for the refusal until such time as the reason for the refusal
is communicated in writing to the employer.
Sec. 6. Section 85.34, subsection 2, unnumbered paragraph
1, Code 2019, is amended to read as follows:
Compensation for permanent partial disability shall begin
when it is medically indicated that maximum medical improvement
from the injury has been reached and that the extent of loss or
percentage of permanent impairment can be determined by use of
the guides to the evaluation of permanent impairment, published
by the American medical association, as adopted by the workers’
compensation commissioner by rule pursuant to chapter 17A at
the termination of the healing period provided in subsection 1 .
The compensation shall be in addition to the benefits provided
by sections 85.27 and 85.28 . The compensation shall be based
upon the extent of the disability and upon the basis of eighty
percent per week of the employee’s average spendable weekly
earnings, but not more than a weekly benefit amount, rounded to
the nearest dollar, equal to one hundred eighty-four percent of
the statewide average weekly wage paid employees as determined
by the department of workforce development under section 96.19,
subsection 36 , and in effect at the time of the injury. The
minimum weekly benefit amount shall be equal to the weekly
benefit amount of a person whose gross weekly earnings are
thirty-five percent of the statewide average weekly wage. For
all cases of permanent partial disability compensation shall
be paid as follows:
Sec. 7. Section 85.34, subsection 2, paragraph n, Code 2019,
is amended by striking the paragraph.
Sec. 8. Section 85.34, subsection 2, paragraph v, Code 2019,
is amended to read as follows:
v. In all cases of permanent partial disability other than
those hereinabove described or referred to in paragraphs “a”
through “u” hereof, the compensation shall be paid during
the number of weeks in relation to five hundred weeks as the
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reduction in the employee’s earning capacity caused by the
disability bears in relation to the earning capacity that the
employee possessed when the injury occurred. A determination
of the reduction in the employee’s earning capacity caused
by the disability shall take into account the permanent
partial disability of the employee and the number of years in
the future it was reasonably anticipated that the employee
would work at the time of the injury. If an employee who
is eligible for compensation under this paragraph returns to
work or is offered work for which the employee receives or
would receive the same or greater salary, wages, or earnings
than the employee received at the time of the injury, the
employee shall be compensated based only upon the employee’s
functional impairment resulting from the injury, and not in
relation to the employee’s earning capacity. Notwithstanding
section 85.26, subsection 2 , if an employee who is eligible
for compensation under this paragraph returns to work with the
same employer and is compensated based only upon the employee’s
functional impairment resulting from the injury as provided
in this paragraph and is terminated from employment by that
employer, the award or agreement for settlement for benefits
under this chapter shall be reviewed upon commencement of
reopening proceedings by the employee for a determination of
any reduction in the employee’s earning capacity caused by the
employee’s permanent partial disability.
Sec. 9. Section 85.34, subsection 2, paragraphs x and y,
Code 2019, are amended by striking the paragraphs.
Sec. 10. Section 85.34, subsection 3, Code 2019, is amended
to read as follows:
3. Permanent total disability.
a. Compensation for an injury causing permanent total
disability shall be upon the basis of eighty percent per week
of the employee’s average spendable weekly earnings, but not
more than a weekly benefit amount, rounded to the nearest
dollar, equal to two hundred percent of the statewide average
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weekly wage paid employees as determined by the department
of workforce development under section 96.19, subsection 36 ,
and in effect at the time of the injury. The minimum weekly
benefit amount is equal to the weekly benefit amount of a
person whose gross weekly earnings are thirty-five percent of
the statewide average weekly wage. The weekly compensation is
payable until the employee is no longer permanently and totally
disabled during the period of the employee’s disability .
b. Such compensation shall be in addition to the benefits
provided in sections 85.27 and 85.28 . No compensation shall
be payable under this subsection for any injury for which
compensation is payable under subsection 2 of this section .
In the event compensation has been paid to any person under
any provision of this chapter , chapter 85A , or chapter 85B
for an the same injury producing a permanent disability, any
such amounts so paid shall be deducted from the total amount
of compensation payable for permanent total disability. An
employee shall not receive compensation for permanent partial
disability if the employee is receiving compensation for
permanent total disability.
c. An employee forfeits the employee’s weekly compensation
for a permanent total disability under this subsection for a
week in which the employee is receiving a payment equal to or
greater than fifty percent of the statewide average weekly wage
from any of the following sources:
(1) Gross earnings from any employer.
(2) Payment for current services from any source.
d. An employee is not entitled to compensation for a
permanent total disability under this subsection while the
employee is receiving unemployment compensation under chapter
96 .
Sec. 11. Section 85.34, subsections 4, 5, and 7, Code 2019,
are amended to read as follows:
4. Credits for excess payments. If an employee is paid
weekly compensation benefits for temporary total disability
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under section 85.33, subsection 1 , for a healing period
under section 85.34, subsection 1 , or for temporary partial
disability under section 85.33, subsection 2 , in excess of
that required by this chapter and chapters 85A , 85B , and 86 ,
the excess paid by the employer shall be credited against the
liability of the employer for any future weekly benefits due
for an injury to that employee permanent partial disability
under section 85.34, subsection 2 , provided that the employer
or the employer’s representative has acted in good faith in
determining and notifying an employee when the temporary total
disability, healing period, or temporary partial disability
benefits are terminated.
5. Recovery of employee overpayment. If an employee is paid
any weekly benefits in excess of that required by this chapter
and chapters 85A , 85B , and 86 , the excess paid by the employer
shall be credited against the liability of the employer for
any future weekly benefits due pursuant to subsection 2 , for
any current or a subsequent injury to the same employee. An
overpayment can be established only when the overpayment is
recognized in a settlement agreement approved under section
86.13, pursuant to final agency action in a contested case
which was commenced within three years from the date that
weekly benefits were last paid for the claim for which the
benefits were overpaid, or pursuant to final agency action
in a contested case for a prior injury to the same employee.
The credit shall remain available for eight years after the
date the overpayment was established. If an overpayment
is established pursuant to this subsection, the employee
and employer may enter into a written settlement agreement
providing for the repayment by the employee of the overpayment.
The agreement is subject to the approval of the workers’
compensation commissioner. The employer shall not take any
adverse action against the employee for failing to agree to
such a written settlement agreement.
7. Successive disabilities.
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a. An employer is fully liable for compensating only that
portion all of an employee’s disability that arises out of and
in the course of the employee’s employment with the employer
and that relates to the injury that serves as the basis for
the employee’s claim for compensation under this chapter ,
or chapter 85A , 85B , or 86 . An employer is not liable for
compensating an employee’s preexisting disability that arose
out of and in the course of employment from a prior injury with
the employer, to the extent that the employee’s preexisting
disability has already been compensated under this chapter ,
or chapter 85A , 85B , or 86 . An employer is not liable for
compensating an employee’s preexisting disability that arose
out of and in the course of employment with a different
employer or from causes unrelated to employment.
b. (1) If an injured employee has a preexisting disability
that was caused by a prior injury arising out of and in
the course of employment with the same employer, and the
preexisting disability was compensable under the same paragraph
of subsection 2 as the employee’s present injury, the employer
is liable for the combined disability that is caused by the
injuries, measured in relation to the employee’s condition
immediately prior to the first injury. In this instance, the
employer’s liability for the combined disability shall be
considered to be already partially satisfied to the extent
of the percentage of disability for which the employee was
previously compensated by the employer.
(2) If, however, an employer is liable to an employee for
a combined disability that is payable under subsection 2,
paragraph “v” , and the employee has a preexisting disability
that causes the employee’s earnings to be less at the time of
the present injury than if the prior injury had not occurred,
the employer’s liability for the combined disability shall be
considered to be already partially satisfied to the extent
of the percentage of disability for which the employee was
previously compensated by the employer minus the percentage
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that the employee’s earnings are less at the time of the
present injury than if the prior injury had not occurred.
c. A successor employer shall be considered to be the
same employer if the employee became part of the successor
employer’s workforce through a merger, purchase, or other
transaction that assumes the employee into the successor
employer’s workforce without substantially changing the nature
of the employee’s employment.
Sec. 12. Section 85.39, Code 2019, is amended to read as
follows:
85.39 Examination of injured employees.
1. After an injury, the employee, if requested by the
employer, shall submit for examination at some reasonable
time and place and as often as reasonably requested, to a
physician or physicians authorized to practice under the laws
of this state or another state, without cost to the employee;
but if the employee requests, the employee, at the employee’s
own cost, is entitled to have a physician or physicians
of the employee’s own selection present to participate in
the examination. If an employee is required to leave work
for which the employee is being paid wages to attend the
requested examination, the employee shall be compensated at
the employee’s regular rate for the time the employee is
required to leave work, and the employee shall be furnished
transportation to and from the place of examination, or the
employer may elect to pay the employee the reasonable cost of
the transportation. The refusal of the employee to submit to
the examination shall forfeit suspend the employee’s right to
any compensation for the period of the refusal. Compensation
shall not be payable for the period of refusal suspension .
2. If an evaluation of permanent disability has been made by
a physician retained by the employer and the employee believes
this evaluation to be too low, the employee shall, upon
application to the commissioner and upon delivery of a copy of
the application to the employer and its insurance carrier, be
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reimbursed by the employer the reasonable fee for a subsequent
examination by a physician of the employee’s own choice, and
reasonably necessary transportation expenses incurred for the
examination. The physician chosen by the employee has the
right to confer with and obtain from the employer-retained
physician sufficient history of the injury to make a proper
examination. An employer is only liable to reimburse an
employee for the cost of an examination conducted pursuant to
this subsection if the injury for which the employee is being
examined is determined to be compensable under this chapter or
chapter 85A or 85B . An employer is not liable for the cost of
such an examination if the injury for which the employee is
being examined is determined not to be a compensable injury. A
determination of the reasonableness of a fee for an examination
made pursuant to this subsection , shall be based on the typical
fee charged by a medical provider to perform an impairment
rating in the local area where the examination is conducted.
Sec. 13. Section 85.45, subsection 1, unnumbered paragraph
1, Code 2019, is amended to read as follows:
Future payments of compensation may be commuted to a present
worth lump sum payment only upon application of a party to
the commissioner and upon written consent of all parties to
the proposed commutation or partial commutation, and on the
following conditions:
Sec. 14. Section 85.45, subsection 3, Code 2019, is amended
by striking the subsection.
Sec. 15. Section 85.70, subsection 1, Code 2019, is amended
to read as follows:
1. An employee who has sustained an injury resulting in
permanent partial or permanent total disability, for which
compensation is payable under this chapter other than an
injury to the shoulder compensable pursuant to section 85.34,
subsection 2 , paragraph “n” , and who cannot return to gainful
employment because of such disability, shall upon application
to and approval by the workers’ compensation commissioner
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be entitled to a one hundred dollar weekly payment from the
employer in addition to any other benefit payments, during each
full week in which the employee is actively participating in a
vocational rehabilitation program recognized by the vocational
rehabilitation services division of the department of
education. The workers’ compensation commissioner’s approval
of such application for payment may be given only after a
careful evaluation of available facts, and after consultation
with the employer or the employer’s representative.
Judicial review of the decision of the workers’ compensation
commissioner may be obtained in accordance with the terms of
the Iowa administrative procedure Act, chapter 17A , and in
section 86.26 . Such additional benefit payment shall be paid
for a period not to exceed thirteen consecutive weeks except
that the workers’ compensation commissioner may extend the
period of payment not to exceed an additional thirteen weeks if
the circumstances indicate that a continuation of training will
in fact accomplish rehabilitation.
Sec. 16. Section 85.70, subsection 2, Code 2019, is amended
by striking the subsection.
Sec. 17. Section 85.71, subsection 1, paragraph a, Code
2019, is amended to read as follows:
a. The employer has a place of business in this state and
the employee regularly works at or from that place of business ,
or the employer has a place of business in this state and the
employee is domiciled in this state .
Sec. 18. Section 86.26, subsection 2, Code 2019, is amended
by striking the subsection.
Sec. 19. Section 86.39, subsection 2, Code 2019, is amended
by striking the subsection.
Sec. 20. Section 86.42, Code 2019, is amended to read as
follows:
86.42 Judgment by district court on award.
Any party in interest may present a file-stamped copy
of an order or decision of the commissioner, from which a
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timely petition for judicial review has not been filed or if
judicial review has been filed, which has not had execution or
enforcement stayed as provided in section 17A.19, subsection
5 , or section 86.26, subsection 2 , or an order or decision
of a deputy commissioner from which a timely appeal has not
been taken within the agency and which has become final by
the passage of time as provided by rule and section 17A.15 ,
or an agreement for settlement approved by the commissioner,
and all papers in connection therewith, to the district court
where judicial review of the agency action may be commenced.
The court shall render a decree or judgment and cause the
clerk to notify the parties. The decree or judgment, in the
absence of a petition for judicial review or if judicial review
has been commenced, in the absence of a stay of execution
or enforcement of the decision or order of the workers’
compensation commissioner as provided in section 17A.19,
subsection 5 , or section 86.26, subsection 2 , or in the absence
of an act of any party which prevents a decision of a deputy
workers’ compensation commissioner from becoming final, has the
same effect and in all proceedings in relation thereto is the
same as though rendered in a suit duly heard and determined by
the court.
Sec. 21. Section 535.3, subsection 1, Code 2019, is amended
to read as follows:
1. a. Interest shall be allowed on all money due on
judgments and decrees of courts at a rate calculated according
to section 668.13 , except for interest due pursuant to section
85.30 for which the rate shall be ten percent per year .
b. Notwithstanding paragraph “a” , interest due pursuant
to section 85.30 shall accrue from the date each compensation
payment is due at an annual rate equal to the one-year treasury
constant maturity published by the federal reserve in the most
recent H15 report settled as of the date of injury, plus two
percent.
EXPLANATION
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The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
This bill relates to workers’ compensation.
The bill amends Code section 85.16(2)(b), concerning
intoxication, by striking the paragraph. Current law provides
that no compensation under Code chapter 85 shall be allowed for
an injury caused by Code section 85.16(1), which is willful
injury, or Code section 85.16(2), which is an employee’s
intoxication. By striking Code section 85.16(2)(b), a
presumption regarding intoxication is removed. The presumption
provides that if the employer shows that, at the time of the
injury or immediately following the injury, the employee had
positive test results reflecting the presence of alcohol,
or another narcotic, depressant, stimulant, hallucinogenic,
or hypnotic drug which drug either was not prescribed by an
authorized medical practitioner or was not used in accordance
with the prescribed use of the drug, it shall be presumed that
the employee was intoxicated at the time of the injury and that
intoxication was a substantial factor in causing the injury.
Code section 85.16(2)(b) also provides that once the employer
has made a showing of presumed intoxication, the burden of
proof shall be on the employee to overcome the presumption
by establishing that the employee was not intoxicated at the
time of the injury, or that intoxication was not a substantial
factor in causing the injury.
The bill amends Code section 85.18, concerning the ability
of a contract to relieve an employer of liability, to eliminate
a provision which stated that the Code section does not create
a private cause of action.
The bill amends Code section 85.23, requiring notice of
injury, and Code section 85.26(1), concerning limitations of
actions, to remove definitions of “date of the occurrence of
the injury” to mean the date the employee knew or should have
known that the injury was work-related.
The bill removes a presumption in Code section 85.33(3) that
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work offered at the employer’s principal place of business
or established place of operation where the employee has
previously worked is presumed to be geographically suitable
for an employee whose duties involve travel away from the
employer’s principal place of business or established place
of operation more than 50 percent of the time. The bill also
strikes provisions concerning offers of temporary work and
what occurs if employees turn down offers of temporary work,
including the procedures to follow.
The bill amends Code section 85.34(2), concerning permanent
partial disabilities, to provide that compensation for
permanent partial disability shall begin at the termination of
a healing period provided in Code section 85.34(1), rather than
when it is medically indicated that maximum medical improvement
from the injury has been reached and that the extent of loss or
percentage of permanent impairment can be determined by use of
the guides to the evaluation of permanent impairment, published
by the American medical association, as adopted by the workers’
compensation commissioner by rule pursuant to Code chapter 17A.
The bill removes a shoulder injury from the scheduled injury
list for permanent partial disability in Code section 85.34(2)
by striking paragraph “n”, which states: “For the loss of a
shoulder, weekly compensation during four hundred weeks”.
The bill amends Code section 85.34(2)(v), concerning
compensation for permanent partial disability for
injuries other than scheduled injuries under Code section
85.34(2)(a)-(u), to remove a provision that a reduction in the
employee’s earning capacity caused by a disability must take
into account the employee’s permanent partial disability and
the number of years in the future it was reasonably anticipated
the employee would work at the time of the injury. The bill
removes a provision that an employee who returns to work or
is offered work for the same or more money than the employee
received when injured shall be compensated only for functional
disability, and not in relation to earning capacity. The
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bill also removes a provision that notwithstands Code section
85.26(2), regarding limitations of actions.
The bill strikes Code section 85.34(2)(x), concerning
permanent partial disability. The paragraph provides that in
all cases of permanent partial disability described in Code
section 85.34(2)(a)-(u), or Code section 85.34(2)(v), when
determining functional disability and not loss of earning
capacity, the extent of loss or percentage of permanent
impairment shall be determined solely by utilizing the guides
to the evaluation of permanent impairment, published by the
American medical association, as adopted by the workers’
compensation commissioner by rule pursuant to Code chapter 17A.
The Code section prohibits lay testimony or agency expertise
from being utilized in making this determination.
The bill strikes Code section 85.34(2)(y), concerning
permanent partial disability. The paragraph provides that
compensation for permanent partial disability for an injury
shall terminate on the date when compensation for permanent
total disability for any injury begins. The Code section
prohibits an employee from receiving compensation for permanent
partial disability if the employee is receiving compensation
for permanent total disability.
The bill amends Code section 85.34(3)(a), concerning
permanent total disability, to provide that the weekly
compensation is payable “during the period of the employee’s
disability”, rather than “until the employee is no longer
permanently and totally disabled”.
The bill amends Code section 85.34(3)(b) to provide that in
the event compensation has been paid to any person under any
provision of Code chapter 85, 85A, or 85B for the same injury,
rather than an injury, producing a permanent disability, any
such amount so paid shall be deducted from the total amount of
compensation payable for permanent total disability. The bill
also amends the paragraph to remove a provision which provided
that “an employee shall not receive compensation for permanent
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partial disability if the employee is receiving compensation
for permanent total disability”.
The bill strikes Code section 85.34(3)(c), which provides
that an employee forfeits the employee’s weekly compensation
for a permanent total disability under this subsection for a
week in which the employee is receiving a payment equal to or
greater than 50 percent of the statewide average weekly wage
from any of the following sources: gross earnings from any
employer or payment for current services from any source.
The bill strikes Code section 85.34(3)(d), which provides
that an employee is not entitled to compensation for a
permanent total disability under Code section 85.34(3) while
the employee is receiving unemployment compensation under Code
chapter 96.
The bill amends Code section 85.34(4), concerning credit for
excess payments, to provide that the excess payment shall be
credited against the liability of the employer for permanent
partial disability under Code section 85.34(2), rather than
against the liability of the employer for any future weekly
benefits due for an injury to that employee.
The bill amends Code section 85.34(5), concerning recovery
for employee overpayment, by providing that if an employee is
paid any weekly benefits in excess of that required by Code
chapter 85, 85A, 85B, or 86, the excess paid by the employer
shall be credited against the liability of the employer for any
future weekly benefits due pursuant to Code section 85.34(2),
for any subsequent, rather than current or subsequent injury,
to the same employee. Furthermore, the bill provides that
the overpayment can be established only when the overpayment
is recognized in a settlement agreement approved under Code
section 86.13. The bill provides additional detail about the
settlement agreement process.
The bill amends Code section 85.34(7), concerning successive
disabilities, to provide that an employer is fully liable for
compensating all of an employee’s disability that arises out
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of and in the course of the employee’s employment with the
employer and removes the requirement that it relate to the
injury that serves as the basis for the employee’s claim for
compensation under Code chapter 85, 85A, 85B, or 86. The bill
also removes a provision that an employer is not liable for
compensating an employee’s preexisting disability that arose
out of and in the course of employment from a prior injury with
the employer, to the extent that the employee’s preexisting
disability has already been compensated under Code chapter
85, 85A, 85B, or 86. The bill provides that if an injured
employee has a preexisting disability that was caused by a
prior injury arising out of and in the course of employment
with the same employer, and the preexisting disability was
compensable under Code section 85.34(2) as the employee’s
present injury, the employer is liable for the combined
disability that is caused by the injuries, measured in relation
to the employee’s condition immediately prior to the first
injury. In this instance, the employer’s liability for the
combined disability shall be considered to be already partially
satisfied to the extent of the percentage of disability for
which the employee was previously compensated by the employer.
The bill provides, however, that if an employer is liable to
an employee for a combined disability that is payable under
Code section 85.34(2)(v) and the employee has a preexisting
disability that causes the employee’s earnings to be less at
the time of the present injury than if the prior injury had not
occurred, the employer’s liability for the combined disability
shall be considered to be already partially satisfied to the
extent of the percentage of disability for which the employee
was previously compensated by the employer minus the percentage
that the employee’s earnings are less at the time of the
present injury than if the prior injury had not occurred.
Additionally, the bill provides that a successor employer shall
be considered to be the same employer if the employee became
part of the successor employer’s workforce through a merger,
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purchase, or other transaction that assumes the employee into
the successor employer’s workforce without substantially
changing the nature of the employee’s employment.
The bill amends Code section 85.39 concerning examination
of injured employees. The bill provides that if an employee
refuses to submit to an examination, the employee’s right to
compensation shall be suspended for the period of refusal,
rather than forfeited. The bill maintains a similar provision
in the Code that compensation shall not be payable for the
period of suspension. The bill eliminates a provision that an
employer is only liable to reimburse an employee for the cost
of an examination if the injury for which the employee is being
examined is determined to be compensable under Code chapter
85, 85A, or 85B, and an employer is not liable for the cost of
such an examination if the injury for which the employee is
being examined is determined not to be a compensable injury.
The bill also eliminates a provision which provides for the
reasonableness measure of a medical provider’s fee for an
impairment rating.
The bill amends Code section 85.45(1), concerning
commutation, by removing the requirement that commutation
of future payments of compensation shall take place only
upon application by a party to the commissioner and the
written consent of all parties to the commutation or partial
commutation.
The bill strikes Code section 85.45(3), which provides that
the parties to any commutation or partial commutation of future
payments agreed to and ordered pursuant to Code section 85.45
may agree that the employee has the right to benefits pursuant
to Code section 85.27 for a specified period of time under such
terms and conditions as agreed to by the workers’ compensation
commissioner. The stricken Code section also provides that
during the specified period of time, the commissioner shall
have jurisdiction of the commutation or partial commutation
agreement for the purpose of adjudicating the employee’s
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S.F. 451
entitlement to benefits provided for in Code section 85.27 as
provided in the agreement.
Under current law pursuant to Code section 85.70, an
employee who has sustained an injury resulting in permanent
partial or permanent total disability that is compensable under
Code chapter 85 (other than a shoulder injury compensable
pursuant to Code section 85.34(2)(n)) and who cannot return
to gainful employment because of such disability and who
applies and receives approval from the workers’ compensation
commissioner shall be entitled to a weekly payment of $100
in addition to any other weekly benefit payment, during each
full week that the employee is actively participating in a
vocational rehabilitation program, which has been recognized
by the vocational rehabilitation services division of the
department of education. The bill removes the reference to
a shoulder injury. The bill strikes a provision relating to
the vocational training and education program for shoulder
injuries.
The bill amends Code section 85.71, concerning compensation
for injuries that occur outside of the state, to provide that
the statute is applicable not only if the employer has a place
of business in this state and the employee regularly works at
or from that place of business, but also if the employer has a
place of business in this state and the employee is domiciled
in this state.
The bill strikes Code section 86.26(2) which provides that a
timely petition for judicial review shall stay the execution or
enforcement of a decision or order of the workers’ compensation
commissioner if the party seeking judicial review posts a bond
securing any compensation awarded pursuant to the decision or
order.
The bill strikes Code section 86.39(2) which provides that
an attorney shall not recover fees for legal services based on
the amount of compensation voluntarily paid or agreed to be
paid to an employee for temporary or permanent disability under
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S.F. 451
Code chapter 85, 85A, 85B, or 86. Also stricken is a provision
that an attorney shall only recover a fee based on the amount
of compensation that the attorney demonstrates would not have
been paid to the employee but for the efforts of the attorney.
Finally, the bill strikes a provision that any disputes over
the recovery of attorney fees under this subsection shall be
resolved by the workers’ compensation commissioner.
The bill amends Code section 86.42, concerning judgment by
district court award, to conform to the section of the bill
which strikes Code section 86.26(2).
The bill amends Code section 535.3(1)(a), concerning
interest due on unpaid weekly workers’ compensation payments,
to provide that interest shall be allowed on all money due on
judgments and decrees of courts at a rate calculated according
to Code section 668.13, except for interest due pursuant to
Code section 85.30 for which the rate shall be 10 percent
per year. The bill eliminates paragraph “b” of Code section
535.3(1) which provides that interest due pursuant to Code
section 85.30 shall accrue from the date each compensation
payment is due at an annual rate equal to the one-year treasury
constant maturity published by the federal reserve in the most
recent H15 report settled as of the date of injury, plus 2
percent.
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