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AL SB453
Bill
AI Summary
SB453 - Workers' Compensation Law Amendments
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Revises key definitions and transfers authority for standardized claim reimbursement forms from the Workers' Compensation Medical Services Board to the Director of the Department of Labor.
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Increases burial expenses from $3,000 to $6,500 and modifies maximum compensation amounts, including permanent partial disability caps and permanent total disability benefits capped at 500 weeks or age 70, whichever is greater.
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Adds pain management treatment provisions requiring written agreements for Schedule II-IV controlled substances, with rebuttable presumptions and termination rights for employee violations.
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Restructures the Workers' Compensation Medical Services Board from five physicians to seven members (two claims professionals, two employers, two providers, one judiciary member) with four-year terms and limited authority over recommendations.
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Allows employers and providers to contract for medical services at mutually agreed-upon rates while maintaining the maximum fee schedule established by the board, and requires judges to enter trial orders within 90 days.
Legislative Description
Workers' Compensation Law, revision of defintions, Department of Labor approves reimbursements, out of state inquiries, settlements, evidence, advanced payments, maximum comp. limits, burial expenses, physician panels, delete certain verification requirements, stipulations for trials, judge's order within 90 days, mutally agreed contracts, Secs. 25-5-1, 25-5-3, 25-5-35, 25-5-56, 25-5-57, 25-5-67, 25-5-68, 25-5-77, 25-5-80, 25-5-81, 25-5-88, 25-5-90, 25-5-117, 25-5-197, 25-5-293, 25-5-310, 25-5-311, 25-5-312, 25-5-313, 25-5-314, 25-5-316 am'd.
Workers' Compensation
Last Action
Read for the first time and referred to the Senate committee on Business and Labor
4/18/2013