Workers' compensation.

Existing law establishes a workers' compensation system, administered by the Administrative Director of the Division of Workers' Compensation, to compensate an employee for injuries sustained in the course of his or her employment. Existing law requires every employer to establish a utilization review process, either directly or through its insurer or an entity with which an employer contracts for these services, for the purpose of reviewing and approving, modifying, delaying, or denying treatment recommendations made by physicians with respect to injured workers. Existing law requires that the administrative director, in consultation with the Commission on Health and Safety and Workers' Compensation, prescribe rules and regulations for serving notices that contain specified information on employees. This bill would add information regarding objections to decisions based on utilization reviews to those prescribed notices. Under existing law, when a party to a proceeding institutes proceedings to terminate an award made by the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board for continuing medical treatment and is unsuccessful in these proceedings, the appeals board is authorized to award reasonable attorney's fees to an applicant resisting these proceedings. This bill would authorize the appeals board to award attorney's fees reasonably incurred by an applicant who prevails in a proceeding in connection with the enforcement of a final award of permanent disability following a medical dispute that arises in the course of the utilization review process.