Bill Text: CA AB483 | 2009-2010 | Regular Session | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Workers' compensation: Internet Web sites.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 6-0)

Status: (Passed) 2009-10-11 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 241, Statutes of 2009. [AB483 Detail]

Download: California-2009-AB483-Amended.html

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BILL NUMBER: AB 483	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  SEPTEMBER 3, 2009
	AMENDED IN SENATE  AUGUST 17, 2009
	AMENDED IN SENATE  JUNE 25, 2009
	AMENDED IN SENATE  JUNE 10, 2009

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Buchanan
   (Coauthors: Assembly Members De La Torre, De Leon, Jones, Lieu,
and Portantino)

                        FEBRUARY 24, 2009

   An act to add Section 11752.75 to the Insurance Code, relating to
workers' compensation.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 483, as amended, Buchanan. Workers' compensation: Internet Web
sites.
   Existing law provides that a licensed rating organization shall
make available specified policy information relating to workers'
compensation insurance, as specified.
   This bill would provide that a licensed rating organization shall,
pursuant to regulations adopted by the Insurance Commissioner after
notice and hearing, establish and maintain an Internet Web site 
, as specified,  for the purposes of assisting any person to
determine whether an employer is insured for workers' compensation.
   This bill would specify who may submit an inquiry and for what
purpose, what information shall be available on the Internet Web
site, and would provide that a rating organization would not be
required to disclose, on the Internet Web site, certain specified
information or confidential information, as specified.
   The bill would provide that the Internet Web site shall be
accessible for inquiries without charge, but the commissioner may at
his or her discretion, permit the rating organization to impose
access restrictions as necessary to deter the use of the Internet Web
site for purposes other than which it was intended.
   This bill would provide that the Internet Web site contain
specified information, or a hypertext link to insurer information on
the Department of Industrial Relations' Internet Web site, and a
hypertext link to the department for the purpose of locating
employers who may be self-insured.
   This bill would require that the Internet Web site be operational
within one year after adoption of regulations by the commissioner,
and be updated as specified.
   This bill would require the commissioner to adopt regulations to
implement this act and provide for dispute resolution regarding the
accuracy of the information displayed on the Internet Web site.
   This bill would provide civil immunity, as specified, to rating
organizations, and specified persons acting within their capacity as
members of the organization, or employees acting within the scope of
their employment, who release information.
   This bill would provide that it shall not be construed to create
liability, as specified, or construed to limit the authority of a
rating organization to disclose information contained in its records
to others.
   This bill would require the commissioner to conduct a review,
evaluation, and assessment of the Internet Web site, as specified, to
provide a written report no later than July 1, 2013, of his or her
findings to various state legislative and executive entities, and to
make the report available on its own Internet Web site.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 11752.75 is added to the Insurance Code, to
read:
   11752.75.  (a)  (1)    Notwithstanding any other
provision of law, a licensed rating organization shall, pursuant to
regulations adopted by the commissioner after notice and hearing,
establish and maintain an Internet Web site for the purposes of
assisting any person to determine whether an employer is insured for
workers' compensation. 
   (2) An Internet Web site developed pursuant to this section shall
not include any links to a commercial, for-profit Internet Web site,
other than a link to the licensed rating organization's homepage, and
shall not contain any advertising other than the name, logo, and
contact information of the licensed rating organization. 
   (b) The Internet Web site shall:
   (1) Permit a person to submit a query for coverage information
concerning a specified employer on a specified date. The specified
date shall be within five years of the date of query.
   (2) Permit the query to specify an employer, using the name,
address, or other identifying information of the employer, or
combinations of identifying information, as may be provided by
regulations adopted by the commissioner. Other identifying
information may include, but need not be limited to, the employer's
federal employer identification number.
   (3) In response to the query, provide the name of the workers'
compensation insurer or insurers for the employer on the date
specified in the query according to the most recent information
available to the rating organization, subject to paragraph (7), and
provide a contact address for the insurer from information available
to the rating organization, or by providing a hypertext link to
insurer information available on the department's Internet Web site.
   (4) Be accessible for inquiries without charge. However, the
commissioner may, at his or her discretion, permit the rating
organization to impose access restrictions as necessary to deter the
use of the Internet Web site for purposes other than those for which
it was intended.
   (5) Contain a hypertext link to the Department of Industrial
Relations' Internet Web site for the purpose of locating employers
who may be self-insured.
   (6) Include any disclaimers that the commissioner may prescribe.
   (7) Be updated to reflect policy information as soon as is
reasonably feasible following submission of that information by
insurers to the rating organization, as the commissioner shall
require.
   (8) Include a disclaimer stating that the search results may not
reflect recent changes in information.
   (9) Include a disclaimer stating that the failure of an employer
to appear in response to a query does not mean that the employer does
not have insurance or is operating in violation of California law.
   (10) Include the date that the Internet Web site was last updated.

   (c) A rating organization shall not be required to disclose on the
Internet Web site any policy numbers, inception or expiration dates,
or confidential information, as defined by the commissioner.
   (d) The Internet Web site specified in this section shall become
operative no later than  1   one  year
after the effective date of regulations adopted by the commissioner
implementing this section.
   (e) The commissioner shall adopt regulations to implement this
section no later than January 1, 2011. These regulations shall
specify a method by which an employer may dispute through the rating
organization or the employer's insurance company the accuracy of the
information displayed on the Internet Web site.
   (f) No rating organization, member of a rating organization, or
member of a committee of a rating organization when acting within his
or her capacity as a member of the committee, or  officer or
employee of a rating organization  when acting within the scope
of his or her employment, shall be liable to any person for injury,
personal or otherwise, or damages caused, or alleged to have been
caused, either directly or indirectly, by the good faith disclosure
of information pursuant to this section, or for the accuracy or
completeness of any information disclosed in good faith.
   (g) This section shall not be construed to create liability except
as provided in this section, nor as a legislative recognition that,
except for the enactment of this section, a liability would exist.
   (h) Nothing in this section shall be construed as limiting the
authority of a rating organization to disclose information contained
in its records to others.
   (i) The commissioner shall conduct a review and evaluation of the
establishment and operation of the Internet Web site and an
assessment of whether it is achieving its intended purpose and
provide a written report on his or her findings no later than July 1,
2013. The report shall include, to the extent possible, statistics
on usage, error rates, user complaints, and efforts undertaken by the
commissioner to improve the operation of the Internet Web site. The
commissioner shall present a copy of the report to the office of the
President pro Tempore of the Senate, the Speaker of the Assembly, the
Senate Committee on Banking, Finance and Insurance,  the
Assembly Committee on Insurance,  the Department of Finance, and
the Department of Industrial Relations and shall make it available
on the Internet Web site of the Department of Insurance.