75-78
LABOR CODE
SECTION 75-78
75. (a) There is in the department the Commission on Health and Safety and Workers' Compensation. The commission shall be composed of eight voting members. Four voting members shall represent organized labor, and four voting members shall represent employers. Not more than one employer member shall represent public agencies. Two of the employer and two of the labor members shall be appointed by the Governor. The Senate Committee on Rules and the Speaker of the Assembly shall each appoint one employer and one labor representative. The public employer representative shall be appointed by the Governor. No action of the commission shall be valid unless agreed to by a majority of the membership and by not less than two members representing organized labor and two members representing employers. (b) The commission shall select one of the members representing organized labor to chair the commission during the 1994 calendar year, and thereafter the commission shall alternatively select an employer and organized labor representative to chair the commission for one-year terms. (c) The initial terms of the members of the commission shall be four years, and they shall hold office until the appointment of a successor. However, the initial terms of one employer and one labor member appointed by the Governor shall expire on December 31, 1995; the initial terms of the members appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules shall expire December 31, 1996; the initial terms of the members appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly shall expire on December 31, 1997; and the initial term of one employer and one labor member appointed by the Governor shall expire on December 31, 1998. Any vacancy shall be filled by appointment to the unexpired term. (d) The commission shall meet every other month and upon the call of the chair. Meetings shall be open to the public. Members of the commission shall receive one hundred dollars ($100) for each day of their actual attendance at meetings of the commission and other official business of the commission and shall also receive their actual and necessary traveling expenses incurred in the performance of their duty as a member. Payment of per diem and traveling expenses shall be made from the Workers' Compensation Administration Revolving Fund, when appropriated by the Legislature. 76. The commission may employ officers, assistants, experts, and other employees it deems necessary. All personnel of the commission shall be under the supervision of the chair or an executive officer to whom he or she delegates this responsibility. All personnel shall be appointed pursuant to the State Civil Service Act (Part 2 (commencing with Section 18500) of Division 5 of Title 2 of the Government Code), except for the one exemption allowed by subdivision (e) of Section 4 of Article VII of the California Constitution. 77. (a) The commission shall conduct a continuing examination of the workers' compensation system, as defined in Section 4 of Article XIV of the California Constitution, and of the state's activities to prevent industrial injuries and occupational diseases. The commission may conduct or contract for studies it deems necessary to carry out its responsibilities. In carrying out its duties, the commission shall examine other states' workers' compensation programs and activities to prevent industrial injuries and occupational diseases. All state departments and agencies, and any rating organization licensed by the Insurance Commissioner pursuant to Article 3 (commencing with Section 11750) of Chapter 3 of Part 3 of Division 2 of the Insurance Code, shall cooperate with the commission and upon reasonable request provide information and data in their possession that the commission deems necessary for the purpose of carrying out its responsibilities. The commission shall issue an annual report on the state of the workers' compensation system, including recommendations for administrative or legislative modifications which would improve the operation of the system. The report shall be made available to the Governor, the Legislature, and the public on request. (b) On or before July 1, 2003, and periodically thereafter as it deems necessary, the commission shall issue a report and recommendations on the improvement and simplification of the notices required to be provided by insurers and self-insured employers. (c) The commission succeeds to, and is vested with, all of the powers, duties, purposes, responsibilities, and jurisdiction of the Health and Safety Commission which is hereby abolished, including the administration of grants to assist in establishing effective occupational injury and illness prevention programs. 77.5. (a) On or before July 1, 2004, the commission shall conduct a survey and evaluation of evidence-based, peer-reviewed, nationally recognized standards of care, including existing medical treatment utilization standards, including independent medical review, as used in other states, at the national level, and in other medical benefit systems. The survey shall be updated periodically. (b) On or before October 1, 2004, the commission shall issue a report of its findings and recommendations to the administrative director for purposes of the adoption of a medical treatment utilization schedule. 77.7. (a) A study shall be undertaken to examine the causes of the number of insolvencies among workers' compensation insurers within the past 10 years. The study shall be conducted by an independent research organization under the direction of the commission. Not later than July 1, 2009, the commission and the department shall publish the report of the study on its Internet Web site and shall inform the Legislature and the Governor of the availability of the report. (b) The study shall include an analysis of the following: the access to capital for workers' compensation insurance from all sources between 1993 and 2003; the availability, source, and risk assumed of reinsurers during this period; the use of deductible policies and their effect on solvency regulation; market activities by insurers and producers that affected market concentration; activities, including financial oversight of insurers, by insurance regulators and the National Association of Insurance Commissioners during this period; the quality of data reporting to the commissioner' s designated statistical agent and the accuracy of recommendations provided by the commissioner's designated statistical agent during this period of time; and underwriting, claims adjusting, and reserving practices of insolvent insurers. The study shall also include a survey of reports of other state agencies analyzing the insurance market response to rising system costs within the applicable time period. (c) Data reasonably required for the study shall be made available by the California Insurance Guarantee Association, Workers' Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau, third-party administrators for the insolvent insurers, whether prior to or after the insolvency, the State Compensation Insurance Fund, and the Department of Insurance. The commission shall also include a survey of reports by the commission and other state agencies analyzing the insurance market response to rising system costs within the applicable period of time. (d) The cost of the study is not to exceed one million dollars ($1,000,000). Confidential information identifiable to a natural person or insurance company held by an agency, organization, association, or other person or entity shall be released to researchers upon satisfactory agreement to maintain confidentiality. Information or material that is not subject to subpoena from the agency, organization, association, or other person or entity shall not be subject to subpoena from the commission or the contracted research organization. (e) The costs of the study shall be borne one-half by the commission from funds derived from the Workers' Compensation Administration Revolving Fund and one-half by insurers from assessments allocated to each insurer based on the insurer's proportionate share of the market as shown by the Market Share Report for Calendar Year 2006 published by the Department of Insurance. (f) In order to protect individual company trade secrets, this study shall not lead to the disclosure of, either directly or indirectly, the business practices of a company that provides data pursuant to this section. This prohibition shall not apply to insurance companies that have been ordered by a court of competent jurisdiction to be placed in liquidation under the supervision of a liquidator or other authority. 78. (a) The commission shall review and approve applications from employers and employee organizations, as well as applications submitted jointly by an employer organization and an employee organization, for grants to assist in establishing effective occupational injury and illness prevention programs. The commission shall establish policies for the evaluation of these applications and shall give priority to applications proposing to target high-risk industries and occupations, including those with high injury or illness rates, and those in which employees are exposed to one or more hazardous substances or conditions or where there is a demonstrated need for research to determine effective strategies for the prevention of occupational illnesses or injuries. (b) Civil and administrative penalties assessed and collected pursuant to Sections 129.5 and 4628 shall be deposited in the Workers' Compensation Administration Revolving Fund. Moneys in the fund, when appropriated by the Legislature to fund the grants under subdivision (a) and other activities and expenses of the commission set forth in this code, shall be expended by the department, upon approval by the commission.