CHSWC ROUNDTABLE ON DWC LIEN WORKLOAD

One of the most persistent administrative problems facing the Division of Workers' Compensation in recent years has been the development of a backlog of lien claims at some DWC district offices. CHSWC reported on this lien situation in its 1995-96 Annual Report and the recent visits to the Los Angles, Santa Ana and Van Nuys offices have confirmed that the problem continues.

Commission staff found that in many instances, liens for payment made over 10 years ago were being filed on workers' compensation cases. In other instances, liens on the same case are not being heard at the same time, leading to costly notification and scheduling, churning of cases and delays in resolution.

It is reported that in newer cases, many of the lien claimants are not receiving proper notice of upcoming hearings, primarily due to the delegation by DWC of the responsibility for issuing the hearing notice to the parties.

This Commission convened a Lien Workload Roundtable of interested members of the Workers' Compensation community. The Lien Roundtable is discussing a proposal developed by CHSWC staff containing legislative and administrative recommendations to address lien issues.

There appears to be an ongoing lien problem in the Division of Workers' Compensation and a potential for continuing backlogs. An additional concern is whether or not DWC can handle these liens, given that they will take up a significant amount of court time.

This project is ongoing. CHSWC and DWC are in the process of collecting data from district offices on the nature and extent of the problem.