Dave Kaplan

WSIA Executive Director

December 2011

Rules, rules and more rules!  That seems to be the theme for this time of year. A number of rule changes have been adopted or are up for consideration.

STRUCTURED SETTLEMENTS

The Board of Industrial Insurance Appeals has come out with its adopted rules at http://www.biia.wa.gov/documents/WSR%2011-23-154.pdf for the implementation of Structured Settlements (scroll down to see the adopted language.)  The Department has issued emergency rules that will be filed and take effect January 3, 2012.  Click HERE to see the Department's emergency rules.  We very much want your feedback on the rules, since we'll have an opportunity to work for changes between the emergency filing and the permanent rule adoption.  Please send your thoughts to me at dave.kaplan@wsiassn.org.

STATEWIDE PROVIDER NETWORK

The Department has issued the first round of draft rules regarding the Statewide Provider Network.  These initial rules govern attending physicians only, and include a definition for "risk of harm" to help assist the Department in weeding out problematic providers.  http://www.lni.wa.gov/rules/AO11/04/1104Proposal.pdf.  WSIA's Rebecca Forrestor of Group Health testified at the public hearing on December 8th in support of the rules.  If adopted, the rules will take effect February 3, 2012 for implementation on January 1, 2013.

CONTINUING EDUCATION CREDITS

The Department has proceeded with WSIA's request to slim down the number of credit categories (or silos) for credits to maintain approved Certified Claims Administrator status through continuing education.  I testified in support of those rules on December 13th.  I also pointed out the need for additional rule changes to address other concerns governing certification, testing, and continuing education.  Those rules can be found HERE, and would take effect February 17, 2012.

VOCATIONAL REHABILITATION PILOT CHANGES

As required by HB 1726 from the 2011 Legislative session, new rules have been adopted to address concerns in the Vocational Rehabilitation Pilot project.  The most notable changes concern eligibility limitations for pensions once an Option 2 has been chosen, and extension of deadlines for employers and injured workers in consideration of valid job offers.  The legislation and rules were agreed upon by both business and labor, and can be found HERE.  The new rules took effect December 16, 2011.

There are a number of other developments occurring, many that are still in process, and we'll be letting you know their progress as more information becomes available.

As always, if you have suggestions, questions or thoughts, please don't hesitate to contact myself or any of your Board members.

Thank you for all that you do to make WSIA a successful representative of your interests.

Dave Kaplan

WSIA Executive Director

dave.kaplan@wsiassn.org

Posted 19 December 2011

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