SB 228 creates an account named the Worker’s Compensation Administration Revolving Fund. This fund is dedicated to implementing fraudulent claim reporting and medical fee schedule reporting provisions, and to enable the development of a cost-efficient electronic adjudication management system.
While SB 228 may seem a noble cause to Senators Alarcon and Murray, reality will dictate that SB 228 is a disaster for the people of this great state. Self-insured employers and insurance carriers pay worker’s compensation benefits. This bill potentially saves these two groups $1.5B per annum.
In addition to the nightmare SB 228 will cause for injured workers, the medical practitioners of this great state will be driven out of business and out of state. The vast majority of self employed practitioners employ at least five Californians, and spends more on other self employed professionals, such as bookkeepers, accountants and attorneys. When such a practitioner is forced to cut fees by 80 percent, that practitioner’s largest expense is labor, and that will be the first thing reduced.
Moreover, the economy in the State of California is under severe hardship, with deflation already upon us. SB 228 threatens to destroy the livelihood of hundreds of thousands of Californians. In conclusion, SB 228 is bad law. It seeks to both financially destroy medical practitioners and make criminals of those that do not or cannot comply with the law. It degrades the already poor performance of worker’s compensation for the injured worker, and acts as a catalyst to destroy jobs in a state that desperately needs revenue. Say “No” to SB 228!
David M. Grant