Workers' Compensation

Passed

P HB326

Workers' compensation; sole shareholders and members. Authorizes the sole shareholder of a stock corporation with one shareholder and the sole member of a limited liability company with one member to elect to be included as employees under the workers' compensation coverage of the business. The same election is currently afforded to sole proprietors and to all of the partners of a business.
Patron - Morgan

P HB417

Birth-Related Neurological Injury Program; Virginia Retirement System. Eliminates requirements that the investment advisors retained by the board of directors of the Birth-Related Neurological Injury Program be from a list provided by the chief investment officer of the Virginia Retirement System and that the board consult with the chief investment officer semiannually. Any investment advisor retained by the board will be required to either be a federal covered investment advisor or registered with the State Corporation Commission under the Securities Act.
Patron - Tata

P HB865

Workers' compensation; temporary partial disability benefits. Provides that the post-injury average weekly wage, in the case of a temporary partial disability of 13 weeks or less, shall be computed by dividing the employee's total earnings during the first two weeks of partial incapacity by two, and that such average is subject to retroactive adjustment for the 90 days preceding an application for an adjustment. If the duration of the partial disability is longer than 13 weeks, it will be computed by dividing the total earnings during the period of partial incapacity by the number of weeks in the period. These provisions apply to commissioned employees, self-employed income, and income from an employer in which the injured worker or a family member has an ownership interest. The provisions may also apply to other employments in the discretion of the Workers' Compensation Commission.
Patron - Byron

P HB941

Workers' compensation liability; self-insurance. Corrects the statement of the minimum ratio of debt to equity that an employer is required to demonstrate prior to obtaining certification as a self-insurer. The minimum ratio is currently codified as 2:2, and the 1996 Acts of Assembly stated the ratio as 2.2; this measure restates the ratio as 2.2:1.
Patron - Morgan

P HB942

Structured Settlement Protection Act; workers' compensation benefits. Exempts all payments in settlement of workers' compensation claims, including transfers of workers' compensation claims, awards, benefits, settlements or payments made or payable pursuant to Title 65.2, from the provisions of the Structured Settlement Protection Act.
Patron - Morgan

Failed

F HB565

Workers' compensation; temporary partial disability benefits. Requires an injured employee who is released to return to work, as a condition of eligibility for partial disability benefits, to prove that he made a reasonable effort to market his residual work capacity during the period for which he seeks compensation. The measure also provides that compensation for a temporary partial disability of 13 weeks or less shall be calculated based on post-injury average weekly wages over the entire period of partial disability. If the duration of the partial disability is longer than 13 weeks, it will be calculated quarterly, provided that if the partial disability period ends before the end of a 13-week interval, the calculation for the final interval shall be as if the period of partial disability was for less than 13 weeks. This bill was incorporated into HB 865.
Patron - Nixon

F HB866

Workers' compensation; temporary partial disability benefits; marketing standards. Requires an injured employee who is released to return to work, as a condition of eligibility for partial disability benefits, to prove that he made a reasonable effort to market his residual work capacity during the period for which he seeks compensation.
Patron - Byron

F HB1361

Workers' compensation; primacy of coverage. Provides that when an employee suffers an injury covered by the Workers' Compensation Act that results from a third party's tort, the employer's workers' compensation insurance coverage for the injured employee is secondary to the third party's liability insurance coverage.
Patron - Bell

F HB1585

Workers' compensation coverage for first responders. Exempts first responders injured during a declared state of emergency from the requirement that the physician treating the employee be chosen from a three-physician panel provided by the employer. The measure provides that a first responder injured during a state of emergency shall be taken forthwith to any available health care facility and be furnished medical treatment at the employer's expense. It also provides that if certain first responders become ill due to an exposure to a radioactive, chemical or biologic agent, and thereafter transmits the illness to a family member, the family member is entitled to employer-provided medical care.
Patron - Sickles

F SB361

Carried Over

C HB416

Virginia Birth-Related Neurological Injury Compensation Program. Provides that "birth-related injury or death" does not include an infant's disability or death caused by maternal disease, infection, or neglect including, but not limited to, chorioamnionitis in cases in which no objective medical evidence indicates hypoxia during the time of labor, delivery, or resuscitation; maternal substance abuse; willful maternal failure during pregnancy to take medications prescribed or adhere to directives from health care providers; or prematurity in cases in which no objective medical evidence indicates hypoxia during the time of labor, delivery, or resuscitation. A procedure for adopting and amending a recommended format for expert panel assessments of birth injury claims is established. A presumption that the report of the medical advisory panel is correct is established, and the procedure for objecting to the report is revised. The measure provides for a waiver of confidentiality of medical records by filing a petition with the Virginia Birth-Related Neurological Injury Compensation Program. The Program is required to make assistance available to individuals completing petitions for acceptance into the Program. The current rebuttable presumption of fetal distress that arises if the hospital fails to provide the fetal heart monitor tape to the claimant is repealed. The measure provides that no inference or presumption shall arise from the absence of a documented umbilical cord blood gas test result. Attorney fees incurred in connection with a petition for entry into the Program are limited to those for services provide after the claimant has received a copy of the report of the medical advisory panel. Certain time limits, including those for rehearings and reviews of Commission determinations, are jurisdictional, while other time limits are specifically subject to extension for good cause. The measure also clarifies provisions regarding referral of cases from circuit court to the Workers' Compensation Commission.
Patron - Tata

C SB643

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General Assembly>Division of Legislative Services>Publications>Session Summaries>2006>Workers' Compensation

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