The talk throughout the halls of the Workers’ Compensation Boards in recent days,  center on the actions of the WCAB Commissioners with respect to the Almaraz / Guzman / Ogilve Petitions for Reconsideration.  Attorneys and Judges are speculating as to what they will do next.  It’s too bad that we don’t have the betting parlors like they have in Britain where the odds on those kind of matters would be publicly posted for all to see and perhaps, even profit.

The practical effect  of the Commissioners’  earlier decisions,  as interpreted by many Trial Judges, was to decimate the 2005 Revised Permanent Disability Schedule which came about as part of the 2004 Reforms known as SB 899.  The purpose of those reforms, lest we forget, was to stop the escalating cost of workers’ compensation which was out-of-control.  The California  Supreme Court has already affirmed many of those reforms and the reason for their implementation.

On another front, the  Insurance Commissioner has been requested to approve a pre-Reform type rate hike to the  workers’ compensation insurance premium rate.  While most of the rate-hike was caused by the increase in medical costs, there is a  portion attributable to the aforementioned  WCAB’s decisions earlier this year.  There is a delay in the Insurance Commissioner’s decision. Thus, the cost factor is clearly back into the equation of permanent disability.  State Fund has raised that issue  in its Petition.

But as we now wait for the Reconsideration decision which may return sanity and stability to the system, there are other cases being decided and bills before the Legislature to talk about.  In the coming days, we will write about those subjects as they develop.  Soon, a Resource Page will be created which will give you useful links.  We are also planning a Page that has a draft title of ‘CA WorkComp 101′ which will provide you with translations for  the lingo and language of the system. Our goal is to help you understand the system without a lot of code words.  We look forward to building this resource for you.

Your comments and ideas are welcome as we build this resource for your use. Click on the hyperlink below that says either “Comments” or “No Comments” to add a comment to this post. Thanks for your attention.

— Steve Kline