Bill Text: NH HB546 | 2013 | Regular Session | Chaptered
Bill Title: Relative to medical examinations under workers' compensation.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Passed) 2013-07-25 - Signed By Governor 07/24/2013; Effective 01/01/2014; Chapter 0256 [HB546 Detail]
Download: New_Hampshire-2013-HB546-Chaptered.html
CHAPTER 256
HB 546 – FINAL VERSION
13Mar2013… 0642h
05/23/13 1590s
26June2013… 2103CofC
2013 SESSION
01/09
HOUSE BILL 546
AN ACT relative to medical examinations under workers’ compensation.
SPONSORS: Rep. Goley, Hills 8; Rep. Wall, Straf 6; Rep. Copeland, Rock 19; Rep. H. Richardson, Coos 4; Sen. Lasky, Dist 13; Sen. Soucy, Dist 18
COMMITTEE: Labor, Industrial and Rehabilitative Services
This bill requires any employer or insurance carrier providing notice to an injured employee regarding an independent medical examination under workers’ compensation to include a certain disclosure in such notice.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
13Mar2013… 0642h
05/23/13 1590s
26June2013… 2103CofC
13-0610
01/09
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Thirteen
AN ACT relative to medical examinations under workers’ compensation.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
256:1 Workers’ Compensation; Medical Examinations. Amend RSA 281-A:38, II to read as follows:
II. Any health care provider conducting independent medical examinations under this chapter shall be certified by the appropriate specialty board as recognized by the American Board of Medical Specialties or obtain the approval of the commissioner for those specialties not recognized by such board. The health care provider shall maintain a current practice in that area of specialty. The independent medical examination shall take place within a 50-mile radius of the residence of the injured employee, unless, within the discretion of the commissioner, examination outside the 50-mile radius is necessary to obtain the services of a provider who specializes in the evaluation and treatment specific to the nature and extent of the employee’s injury. If an employer or insurance carrier provides written notice to the injured employee regarding its request for an independent medical examination, such notice shall be given 10 days before the examination and shall include the following: “This medical examination is at the request of either the employer or insurance carrier. The examination is not for the purpose of treatment or advice about treatment but for a medical opinion about the employee’s claim.” The injured employee shall not be required to submit to more than 2 independent medical examinations per year, unless within the discretion of the commissioner, more than 2 examinations are necessary. An injured employee shall have the right to have a witness present during such examination. In the event that a witness is present, including but not limited to a witness taking notes or observing, on behalf of the injured employee, the witness shall not interfere in the examination in any way. The injured employee shall be required to sign an authorization, as prepared by the commissioner, to the effect that he or she understands that his or her medical history and condition or conditions will be discussed during said examination and that he or she waives any right to privacy that he or she may have under the circumstances of voluntarily allowing a witness to be present on his or her behalf.
256:2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect January 1, 2014.
Approved: July 24, 2013 Effective Date: January 1, 2014
