Bill Text: HI HCR168 | 2015 | Regular Session | Amended

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Bill Title: Workers' Compensation; Working Group

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Passed) 2015-05-01 - Received notice of Adoption in House (Hse. Com. No. 650). [HCR168 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2015-HCR168-Amended.html

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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.C.R. NO.	168
TWENTY-EIGHTH LEGISLATURE, 2015		H.D. 2
STATE OF HAWAII		S.D. 1

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS TO CONVENE A WORKING GROUP TO STREAMLINE THE STATE'S WORKERS' COMPENSATION PROCESS.

 

 

     WHEREAS, the purpose of the State's workers' compensation law is to provide wage loss compensation and medical care to employees for work-related injuries through an expedited administrative, rather than judicial, process; and

 

     WHEREAS, despite losing thirty-one per cent of its staff since 2008 due to reductions-in-force, retirements, and hiring freezes, workers' compensation claims are processed by the Disability Compensation Division of the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations; and

 

     WHEREAS, the current workers' compensation system is, at times, inadequate in providing timely relief to workers injured in the course of their employment; and

 

     WHEREAS, injured claimants have experienced considerable delays in the processing of their workers' compensation claims; and

 

     WHEREAS, injured claimants have complained that scheduling an employer-requested medical examination can take longer than a year despite repeated requests and inquiries; and

 

     WHEREAS, payments following the execution of a settlement agreement have also been known to take over six months to process; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-eighth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2015, the Senate concurring, that the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations is requested to convene a working group to streamline the State's workers' compensation process, including the employer-requested medical examination, under chapter 386, Hawaii Revised Statutes; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature requests that the working group consider streamlining the filing process for workers' compensation claims by converting to a computerized system; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Director of Labor and Industrial Relations or the Department's Deputy Director is requested to serve as Chairperson of the working group and to invite the following to serve as members:

 

     (1)  The Director of Human Resources Development or the Director's designee;

 

     (2)  Insurers that issue workers' compensation insurance policies in the State;

 

     (3)  Attorneys who represent employers and employees in workers' compensation claims;

 

     (4)  A representative of a mutual benefit society operating in the State;

 

     (5)  A representative of a health maintenance organization operating in the State;

 

     (6)  Health care providers; and

 

     (7)  Any other persons deemed appropriate by the Chairperson of the working group; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives are each requested to appoint one person to serve as a member of the working group; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the working group is requested to submit a report of its findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2017; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Director of Labor and Industrial Relations and the Director of Human Resources Development.

Report Title: 

Workers' Compensation; Working Group