Lien filing and activation fees

California’s workers’ compensation law allows certain claims for payment for services or benefits provided to or on behalf of injured workers to be filed as a lien against an  the employee’s claim for workers’compensation benefits.  Payment of those claims can only be allowed by order of the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board (WCAB).

Requests that can be filed as a lien against the injured employee’s claim include:

• Attorney fees
• Burial expenses
• Living expenses of the employee’s spouse or minor children
• The amount of unemployment compensation disability benefits paid pending a determination of a work-related injury
• The amount of unemployment compensation benefits and extended benefits or family temporary disability insurance benefits to the extent such benefits duplicate period of the injured employee’s entitlement to temporary total disability
• The amount of indemnification granted by the California Victims of Crime Program
• The reasonable expense incurred by or on behalf of the injured employee for reasonable medical treatment to cure or relieve the effects of the industrial injury except medical treatment disputes subject to independent medical review or independent bill review.

Filing a lien

How to file a lien for medical treatment expenses and pay the lien filing fee:

• Anyone filing a lien for reasonable medical expenses incurred by the injured employee and filed on or after Jan. 1, 2013 is required to pay a lien filing fee of $150.
• The lien must be filed electronically by one of two methods: E-Form or Jet File.
  1. To file by E-form follow the procedures in the EAMS E-Form Filing Reference Guide.
     • To assist with paying the lien fee use the step by step instructions.
  2. To file by JET File follow the procedures in the EAMS JET file Business Rules and Technical Specifications.
• Failure to pay the lien filing fee will result in the lien being invalid and will not be considered filed.

Activating a lien

How to activate a lien and pay the activation fee:

• A $100 fee must be paid for any medical treatment expense lien filed prior to Jan. 1, 2013 in the following situations:
  • A lien claimant files a DOR for a lien conference
  • On or before a lien conference if the lien claimant did not file a DOR
    • To activate and pay for any lien filed before Jan. 1, 2013 use the step by step instructions.
• All liens will be dismissed as a matter of law if the activation fee is not paid by Jan. 1, 2014.

Resources

• Make a lien fee payment through the public information case search function
• Look up the status of your lien fee payment by using the step by step instructions
• Frequently asked questions about lien filing and activation fees
• Electronic document filing and lien filing fee emergency regulations.

January 2013