HB 23-1076 Summary

• Increases mental impairment benefits duration from 12 weeks to 36 weeks of medical impairment benefits, with exceptions for crime victims and those with neurological brain damage.

• Removes employee authority to petition for replacement of artificial devices, glasses, hearing aids, and other prosthetic devices based on anatomical changes or good cause.

• Allows employees to request expedited hearings within 45 days after temporary total disability benefits termination to challenge the attending physician determination, release to work status, or medical provider disagreements.

• Updates independent medical examination (IME) provisions to allow director rulemaking on cost allocation between parties and permits prehearing conferences to resolve disputes over medical record relevance and IME cost sharing.

• Increases the presumed unreasonable attorney fee threshold from 20 percent to 25 percent of contested benefits in unappealed cases.