Commission on Health and Safety and Workers' Compensation (CHSWC)

Workers' Compensation Reforms

California's workers' compensation system has been the center of intense debate and legislative activity over the past several years. The most dramatic reforms in the history of California workers' compensation began in 2003 with the adoption of evidence-based medicine guidelines, the application of those guidelines though a mandatory utilization review process, and the repeal of vocational rehabilitation. These were rapidly followed by the adoption of employer-selected medical provider networks and a new approach to permanent disability evaluation. This section describes the large-scale changes enacted in recent years.

• Understanding the Effect of SB 899 (Stats 2004, Chap 34) on the Law of Apportionment, April 2007
• Understanding the Effect of SB 899 on the Law of Apportionment, October 2005
• Summary of workers' compensation reform legislation - SB 899
• Section-by-section review of SB 899

• AB 227 version version
  
• SB 228 version version

• CHSWC and AB 749
  
• CHSWC and AB 749 as amended - October 2002
  

• Workers' compensation and the California economy, April 2000
  
• Update: Workers' compensation and the California economy, December 2000 - Project description
  

• Report workers' compensation costs and benefits after the implementation of reform legislation, August 1999
• Executive summary impact of the 1993 reforms on payments of temporary and permanent disability
• Summary estimating the workers' compensation reform impact on employer costs and employee benefits - Project description
  

• Preliminary evidence on the implementation of 'Baseball Arbitration', November 1999
  

• Issue paper on labor code section 5814, April 2000
• Background paper on labor code section 5814, March 1999
  

• CHSWC Report on the Division of Workers' Compensation Audit Function - Executive Summary December 1998
  

• Evaluating the Reforms of the Medical-Legal Process Using the WCIRB Permanent Disability Survey - Executive Summary 1997

• Vocational Rehabilitation Reform Evaluation March 2000
• Vocational Rehabilitation Benefit: An Analysis of Costs, Characteristics, and the Impact of the 1993 Reforms? August 1997

• Doctors and Courts: Do Legal Decisions Affect Medical Treatment Practice? 2002
• Cover page: Report on the Quality of the Treating Physician Reports and the Cost-Benefit of Presumption in Favor of the Treating Physician 1999
• Report on the Quality of the Treating Physician Reports and the Cost-Benefit of Presumption in Favor of the Treating Physician 1999

April 2009