View Bill Status
View Bill Text
View Statement of Purpose / Fiscal Impact
H0649.......................................by COMMERCE AND HUMAN RESOURCES
WORKER'S COMPENSATION - Amends existing law relating to worker's
compensation to prohibit balance billing.
02/10 House intro - 1st rdg - to printing
02/13 Rpt prt - to Com/HuRes
02/14 Rpt out - rec d/p - to 2nd rdg
02/15 2nd rdg - to 3rd rdg
02/21 3rd rdg - PASSED - 67-0-3
AYES -- Anderson, Andrus, Barraclough, Bastian, Bayer, Bedke, Bell,
Bilbao, Black, Block, Boe, Bolz, Brackett, Bradford, Cannon,
Chadderdon, Clark, Collins, Crow, Deal, Denney, Edmunson, Ellsworth,
Eskridge, Field(18), Field(23), Garrett, Hart, Harwood, Henbest,
Henderson, Jaquet, Kemp, Lake, LeFavour, Loertscher, Martinez,
Mathews, McGeachin, McKague, Miller, Mitchell, Moyle, Nielsen,
Nonini, Pasley-Stuart, Pence, Raybould, Ring, Ringo, Roberts, Rusche,
Rydalch, Sali(Sali), Sayler, Schaefer, Shepherd(2), Shepherd(8),
Shirley, Skippen, Smith(30), Smith(24), Smylie, Stevenson, Trail,
Wills, Wood
NAYS -- None
Absent and excused -- Barrett, Snodgrass, Mr. Speaker
Floor Sponsor - Garrett
Title apvd - to Senate
02/22 Senate intro - 1st rdg - to Com/HuRes
03/10 Rpt out - rec d/p - to 2nd rdg
03/13 2nd rdg - to 3rd rdg
03/16 3rd rdg - PASSED - 35-0-0
AYES -- Andreason, Brandt, Broadsword, Bunderson, Burkett,
Burtenshaw, Cameron, Coiner, Compton, Corder, Darrington, Davis,
Fulcher, Gannon, Geddes, Goedde, Hill, Jorgenson, Kelly, Keough,
Langhorst, Little, Lodge, Malepeai, Marley, McGee, McKenzie, Pearce,
Richardson, Schroeder, Stegner, Stennett, Sweet, Werk, Williams
NAYS -- None
Absent and excused -- None
Floor Sponsor - Goedde
Title apvd - to House
03/17 To enrol
03/20 Rpt enrol - Sp signed
03/21 Pres signed - To Governor
03/24 Governor signed
Session Law Chapter 206
Effective: 07/01/06
]]]] LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO ]]]]
Fifty-eighth Legislature Second Regular Session - 2006
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
HOUSE BILL NO. 649
BY COMMERCE AND HUMAN RESOURCES COMMITTEE
1 AN ACT
2 RELATING TO WORKER'S COMPENSATION; AMENDING SECTION 72-102, IDAHO CODE, TO
3 DEFINE ADDITIONAL TERMS; AMENDING SECTION 72-432, IDAHO CODE, TO PROHIBIT
4 BALANCE BILLING; AMENDING SECTION 20-245, IDAHO CODE, TO PROVIDE A CORRECT
5 CODE REFERENCE; AMENDING SECTION 72-436, IDAHO CODE, TO PROVIDE A CORRECT
6 CODE REFERENCE AND TO MAKE A TECHNICAL CORRECTION; AMENDING SECTION
7 72-438, IDAHO CODE, TO PROVIDE A CORRECT CODE REFERENCE AND TO MAKE A
8 TECHNICAL CORRECTION; AND AMENDING SECTION 72-451, IDAHO CODE, TO PROVIDE
9 A CORRECT CODE REFERENCE.
10 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Idaho:
11 SECTION 1. That Section 72-102, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby
12 amended to read as follows:
13 72-102. DEFINITIONS. Words and terms used in the worker's compensation
14 law, unless the context otherwise requires, are defined in the subsections
15 which follow:
16 (1) "Alien" means a person who is not a citizen, a national or a resident
17 of the United States or Canada. Any person not a citizen or national of the
18 United States who relinquishes or is about to relinquish his residence in the
19 United States shall be regarded as an alien.
20 (2) "Balance billing" means charging, billing, or otherwise attempting to
21 collect directly from an injured employee payment for medical services in
22 excess of amounts allowable in compensable claims as provided by rules promul-
23 gated by the commission pursuant to section 72-508, Idaho Code.
24 (3) "Beneficiary" means any person who is entitled to income benefits or
25 medical and related benefits under this law.
26 (34) "Burial expenses" means a sum, not to exceed six thousand dollars
27 ($6,000) for funeral and burial or cremation, together with the actual
28 expenses of transportation of the employee's body to his place of residence
29 within the United States or Canada.
30 (45) "Commission" means the industrial commission.
31 (56) "Community service worker" means:
32 (a) Any person who has been convicted of a criminal offense, any juvenile
33 who has been found to be within the purview of chapter 5, title 20, Idaho
34 Code, and who has been informally diverted under the provisions of section
35 20-511, Idaho Code, or any person or youth who has been diverted from the
36 criminal or juvenile justice system and who performs a public service for
37 any department, institution, office, college, university, authority, divi-
38 sion, board, bureau, commission, council, or other entity of the state, or
39 any city, county, school district, irrigation district or other taxing
40 district authorized to levy a tax or an assessment or any other political
41 subdivision or any private not-for-profit agency which has elected wor-
42 ker's compensation insurance coverage for such person; or
43 (b) Parolees under department of correction supervision, probationers
2
1 under court order or department of correction supervision and offender
2 residents of community work centers under the direction or order of the
3 board of correction who are performing public service or community service
4 work for any of the entities specified in paragraph (56)(a) of this sec-
5 tion other than the department of correction.
6 (67) "Compensation" used collectively means any or all of the income ben-
7 efits and the medical and related benefits and medical services.
8 (78) "Custom farmer" means a person who contracts to supply operated
9 equipment to a proprietor of a farm for the purpose of performing part or all
10 of the activities related to raising or harvesting agricultural or horticul-
11 tural commodities.
12 (89) "Death" means death resulting from an injury or occupational dis-
13 ease.
14 (910) Dependency limitations.
15 (a) "Adopted" and "adoption" include cases where persons are treated as
16 adopted as well as those of legal adoption unless legal adoption is spe-
17 cifically provided.
18 (b) "Brother" and "sister" include stepbrothers and stepsisters, half
19 brothers and half sisters, and brothers and sisters by adoption.
20 (c) "Child" includes adopted children, posthumous children, and acknowl-
21 edged illegitimate children, but does not include stepchildren unless
22 actually dependent.
23 (d) "Grandchild" includes children of legally adopted children and chil-
24 dren of stepchildren, but does not include stepchildren of children,
25 stepchildren of stepchildren, or stepchildren of adopted children unless
26 actually dependent.
27 (e) "Parent" includes stepparents and parents by adoption.
28 (f) "Grandparent" includes parents of parents by adoption, but does not
29 include parents of stepparents, stepparents of parents, or stepparents of
30 stepparents.
31 (101) "Disability," for purposes of determining total or partial temporary
32 disability income benefits, means a decrease in wage-earning capacity due to
33 injury or occupational disease, as such capacity is affected by the medical
34 factor of physical impairment, and by pertinent nonmedical factors as provided
35 in section 72-430, Idaho Code.
36 (112) "Employee" is synonymous with "workman" and means any person who has
37 entered into the employment of, or who works under contract of service or
38 apprenticeship with, an employer. It does not include any person engaged in
39 any of the excepted employments enumerated in section 72-212, Idaho Code,
40 unless an election as provided in section 72-213, Idaho Code, has been filed.
41 Any reference to an employee who has been injured shall, where the employee is
42 dead, include a reference to his dependents as herein defined, if the context
43 so requires, or, where the employee is a minor or incompetent, to his commit-
44 tee or guardian or next friend.
45 (123) (a) "Employer" means any person who has expressly or impliedly
46 hired or contracted the services of another. It includes contractors and
47 subcontractors. It includes the owner or lessee of premises, or other per-
48 son who is virtually the proprietor or operator of the business there car-
49 ried on, but who, by reason of there being an independent contractor or
50 for any other reason, is not the direct employer of the workers there
51 employed. If the employer is secured, it means his surety so far as appli-
52 cable.
53 (b) "Professional employer" means a professional employer as defined in
54 chapter 24, title 44, Idaho Code.
55 (c) "Temporary employer" means the employer of temporary employees as
3
1 defined in section 44-2403(7), Idaho Code.
2 (d) "Work site employer" means the client of the temporary or profes-
3 sional employer with whom a worker has been placed.
4 (134) "Farm labor contractor" means any person or his agent or subcontrac-
5 tor who, for a fee, recruits and employs farm workers and performs any farm
6 labor contracting activity.
7 (145) "Gender and number." The masculine gender includes the feminine and
8 neuter; "husband" or "wife" includes "spouse"; the singular number includes
9 plural and the plural the singular.
10 (156) "Income benefits" means payments provided for or made under the pro-
11 visions of this law to the injured employee disabled by an injury or occupa-
12 tional disease, or his dependents in case of death, excluding medical and
13 related benefits.
14 (167) "Independent contractor" means any person who renders service for a
15 specified recompense for a specified result, under the right to control or
16 actual control of his principal as to the result of his work only and not as
17 to the means by which such result is accomplished. For the purposes of wor-
18 ker's compensation law, a custom farmer is considered to be an independent
19 contractor.
20 (178) "Injury" and "accident."
21 (a) "Injury" means a personal injury caused by an accident arising out of
22 and in the course of any employment covered by the worker's compensation
23 law.
24 (b) "Accident" means an unexpected, undesigned, and unlooked for mishap,
25 or untoward event, connected with the industry in which it occurs, and
26 which can be reasonably located as to time when and place where it
27 occurred, causing an injury.
28 (c) "Injury" and "personal injury" shall be construed to include only an
29 injury caused by an accident, which results in violence to the physical
30 structure of the body. The terms shall in no case be construed to include
31 an occupational disease and only such nonoccupational diseases as result
32 directly from an injury.
33 (189) "Manifestation" means the time when an employee knows that he has an
34 occupational disease, or whenever a qualified physician shall inform the
35 injured worker that he has an occupational disease.
36 (1920) "Medical and related benefits" means payments provided for or made
37 for medical, hospital, burial and other services as provided in this law other
38 than income benefits.
39 (201) "Medical services" means medical, surgical, dental or other atten-
40 dance or treatment, nurse and hospital service, medicines, apparatus, appli-
41 ances, prostheses, and related services, facilities and supplies.
42 (212) "Occupational diseases."
43 (a) "Occupational disease" means a disease due to the nature of an
44 employment in which the hazards of such disease actually exist, are char-
45 acteristic of, and peculiar to the trade, occupation, process, or employ-
46 ment, but shall not include psychological injuries, disorders or condi-
47 tions unless the conditions set forth in section 72-451, Idaho Code, are
48 met.
49 (b) "Contracted" and "incurred," when referring to an occupational dis-
50 ease, shall be deemed the equivalent of the term "arising out of and in
51 the course of" employment.
52 (c) "Disablement," except in the case of silicosis, means the event of an
53 employee's becoming actually and totally incapacitated because of an occu-
54 pational disease from performing his work in the last occupation in which
55 injuriously exposed to the hazards of such disease, and "disability" means
4
1 the state of being so incapacitated.
2 (d) "Disablement," in the case of silicosis, means the event of first
3 becoming actually incapacitated, because of such disease, from performing
4 any work in any remunerative employment; and "disability" means the state
5 of being so incapacitated.
6 (e) "Silicosis" means the characteristic fibrotic condition of the lungs
7 caused by the inhalation of silicon dioxide dust.
8 (223) "Outworker" means a person to whom articles or materials are fur-
9 nished to be treated in any way on premises not under the control or manage-
10 ment of the person who furnished them.
11 (234) "Person" means the state or any political subdivision thereof, or
12 any individual, partnership, firm, association, trust, corporation, including
13 the state insurance fund, or any representative thereof.
14 (245) "Physician" means medical physicians and surgeons, ophthalmologists,
15 otorhinolaryngologists, dentists, osteopaths, osteopathic physicians and sur-
16 geons, optometrists, podiatrists, chiropractic physicians, and members of any
17 other healing profession licensed or authorized by the statutes of this state
18 to practice such profession within the scope of their practice as defined by
19 the statutes of this state and as authorized by their licenses.
20 (26) "Provider" means any person, firm, corporation, partnership, associa-
21 tion, agency, institution, or other legal entity providing any kind of medical
22 services related to the treatment of an injured employee which are compensable
23 under Idaho's worker's compensation law.
24 (257) "Secretary" means the secretary of the commission.
25 (268) "Self-insurer" means an employer who has been authorized under the
26 provisions of this law to carry his own liability to his employees covered by
27 this law.
28 (279) "State" includes any state, district, commonwealth, zone or terri-
29 tory of the United States or any province of Canada.
30 (2830) "Surety" means any insurer authorized to insure or guarantee pay-
31 ment of worker's compensation liability of employers in any state; it also
32 includes the state insurance fund, a self-insurer and an inter-insurance
33 exchange.
34 (2931) "United States," when used in a geographic sense, means the several
35 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Canal
36 Zone and the territories of the United States.
37 (302) "Wages" and "wage earning capacity" prior to the injury or disable-
38 ment from occupational disease mean the employee's money payments for services
39 as calculated under section 72-419, Idaho Code, and shall additionally include
40 the reasonable market value of board, rent, housing, lodging, fuel, and other
41 advantages which can be estimated in money which the employee receives from
42 the employer as part of his remuneration, and gratuities received in the
43 course of employment from others than the employer. "Wages" shall not include
44 sums which the employer has paid to the employee to cover any special expenses
45 entailed on him by the nature of his employment.
46 (313) "Wages" and "wage earning capacity" after the injury or disablement
47 from occupational disease shall be presumed to be the actual earnings after
48 the injury or disablement, which presumption may be overcome by showing that
49 those earnings do not fairly and reasonably represent wage earning capacity;
50 in such a case wage earning capacity shall be determined in the light of all
51 factors and circumstances which may affect the worker's capacity to earn
52 wages.
53 (324) "Work experience student" means any person enrolled in the public
54 school districts of this state and who, as part of his instruction, is
55 enrolled in a class or program for academic credit and for which the student
5
1 is employed by, or works for, a private or governmental entity. The student
2 need not receive wages from the private or governmental entity in order to be
3 classified as a work experience student.
4 (335) "Worker's compensation law" or "workmen's compensation law" means
5 and includes the worker's compensation law of this state and any like or simi-
6 lar law of any state, United States, territory, or province of Canada.
7 SECTION 2. That Section 72-432, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby
8 amended to read as follows:
9 72-432. MEDICAL SERVICES, APPLIANCES AND SUPPLIES -- REPORTS. (1) Subject
10 to the provisions of section 72-706, Idaho Code, the employer shall provide
11 for an injured employee such reasonable medical, surgical or other attendance
12 or treatment, nurse and hospital services, medicines, crutches and apparatus,
13 as may be reasonably required by the employee's physician or needed immedi-
14 ately after an injury or manifestation of an occupational disease, and for a
15 reasonable time thereafter. If the employer fails to provide the same, the
16 injured employee may do so at the expense of the employer.
17 (2) The employer shall also furnish necessary replacements or repairs of
18 appliances and prostheses, unless the need therefor is due to lack of proper
19 care by the employee. If the appliance or prosthesis is damaged or destroyed
20 in an industrial accident, the employer, for whom the employee was working at
21 the time of accident, will be liable for replacement or repair, but not for
22 any subsequent replacement or repair not directly resulting from the accident.
23 (3) In addition to the income benefits otherwise payable, the employee
24 who is entitled to income benefits shall be paid an additional sum in an
25 amount as may be determined by the commission as by it deemed necessary, as a
26 medical service, when the constant service of an attendant is necessary by
27 reason of total blindness of the employee or the loss of both hands or both
28 feet or the loss of use thereof, or by reason of being paralyzed and unable to
29 walk, or by reason of other disability resulting from the injury or disease
30 actually rendering him so helpless as to require constant attendance. The com-
31 mission shall have authority to determine the necessity, character and suffi-
32 ciency of any medical services furnished or to be furnished and shall have
33 authority to order a change of physician, hospital or rehabilitation facility
34 when in its judgment such change is desirable or necessary.
35 (4) (a) The employee upon reasonable grounds, may petition the commission
36 for a change of physician to be provided by the employer; however, the
37 employee must give written notice to the employer or surety of the
38 employee's request for a change of physicians to afford the employer the
39 opportunity to fulfill its obligations under this section. If proper
40 notice is not given, the employer shall not be obligated to pay for the
41 services obtained. Nothing in this section shall limit the attending phy-
42 sician from arranging for consultation, referral or specialized care with-
43 out permission of the employer. Upon receiving such written notice, the
44 employer shall render its written decision on the claimant's request
45 within fourteen (14) days. If any dispute arises over the issue of a
46 request for change of physician, the industrial commission shall conduct
47 an expedited hearing to determine whether or not the request for change of
48 physician should be granted, and shall render a decision within fourteen
49 (14) days after the filing of the response by the employer.
50 (b) The industrial commission shall, no later than December 31, 1997,
51 promulgate a rule for the expeditious handling of a petition for change of
52 physician pursuant to this section. Nothing herein shall prevent the com-
53 mission from making periodic amendments, as may become necessary, to any
6
1 rule for a petition for change of physician.
2 (5) Any employee who seeks medical care in a manner not provided for in
3 this section, or as ordered by the industrial commission pursuant to this sec-
4 tion, shall not be entitled to reimbursement for costs of such care.
5 (6) No provider shall engage in balance billing as defined in section
6 72-102, Idaho Code.
7 (7) An employee shall not be responsible for charges of physicians, hos-
8 pitals or other providers of medical services to whom he has been referred for
9 treatment of his injury or occupational disease by an employer designated phy-
10 sician or by the commission, except for charges for personal items or extended
11 services which the employee has requested for his convenience and which are
12 not required for treatment of his injury or occupational disease.
13 (78) The employer or surety shall not be subject to tort liability to any
14 health care provider for complying with the provisions of this law.
15 (89) Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to require a workman who
16 in good faith relies on Christian Science treatment by a duly accredited
17 Christian Science practitioner to undergo any medical or surgical treatment,
18 providing that neither he nor his dependents shall be entitled to income bene-
19 fits of any kind beyond those reasonably expected to have been paid had he
20 undergone medical or surgical treatment, and the employer or insurance carrier
21 may pay for such spiritual treatment.
22 (910) The commission shall promulgate rules requiring physicians and other
23 practitioners providing treatment to make regular reports to the commission
24 containing such information as may be required by the commission. The commis-
25 sion shall promulgate such rules with the counsel, advice, cooperation and
26 expertise of representatives of industry, labor, sureties and the legal and
27 medical professions as well as institutions, hospitals and clinics having
28 physical rehabilitation facilities.
29 (101) All medical information relevant to or bearing upon a particular
30 injury or occupational disease shall be provided to the employer, surety, man-
31 ager of the industrial special indemnity fund, or their attorneys or autho-
32 rized representatives, the claimant, the claimant's attorneys or authorized
33 representatives, or the commission without liability on the part of the physi-
34 cian, hospital or other provider of medical services and information developed
35 in connection with treatment or examination for an injury or disease for which
36 compensation is sought shall not be privileged communication. When a physician
37 or hospital willfully fails to make a report required under this section,
38 after written notice by the commission that such report is due, the commis-
39 sion may order forfeiture of all or part of payments due for services rendered
40 in connection with the particular case. An attorney representing the employer,
41 surety, claimant or industrial special indemnity fund shall have the right to
42 confer with any health care provider without the presence of the opposing
43 attorney, representative or party, except for a health care provider who is
44 retained only as an expert witness.
45 (112) Physicians or others providing services under this section shall
46 assist in the rehabilitation program provided in section 72-501A, Idaho Code.
47 They shall cooperate with specialists from the commission's rehabilitation
48 staff and with employer rehabilitation personnel in furthering the physical or
49 vocational rehabilitation of the employee. The extension of total temporary
50 disability benefits during retraining as authorized by section 72-450, Idaho
51 Code, shall be the responsibility of the commission, however, the physician
52 shall inform the commission as soon as it is medically apparent that the
53 employee may be unable to return to the job in which he sustained injury or
54 occupational disease following treatment and maximum recovery.
55 (123) An injured employee shall be reimbursed for his expenses of neces-
7
1 sary travel in obtaining medical care under this section. Reimbursement for
2 transportation expenses, if the employee utilizes a private vehicle, shall be
3 at the mileage rate allowed by the state board of examiners for state employ-
4 ees; provided however, that the employee shall not be reimbursed for the first
5 fifteen (15) miles of any round trip, nor for traveling any round trip of fif-
6 teen (15) miles or less. Such distance shall be calculated by the shortest
7 practical route of travel.
8 (134) An employee who leaves the locality where employed at the time of
9 the industrial accident, or manifestation of an occupational disease, or the
10 locality in which the employee is currently receiving medical treatment for
11 the injury, shall give timely notice to the employer and surety of the
12 employee's leaving the locality. The employer or surety may require the claim-
13 ant to report to the treating physician for examination prior to leaving the
14 locality, if practical. If an examination by the treating physician is not
15 practical prior to leaving the locality, the employer or surety may assist in
16 arranging an examination by an appropriate physician in the new locality.
17 After receiving notice of relocation, the employer or surety shall have the
18 same responsibility to furnish care as set forth in subsection (1) of this
19 section.
20 SECTION 3. That Section 20-245, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby
21 amended to read as follows:
22 20-245. OFFENDER LABOR ON STATE AND COMMUNITY SERVICE PROJECTS. (1)
23 Offender labor on state projects. The state board of correction shall have the
24 authority to use, under such rules as they may prescribe, the labor of offend-
25 ers either within or without the walls of the penitentiary and on all public
26 works done under the direct control of the state; that offender labor under
27 control of the state board of correction shall manufacture and repair state
28 highway signs, except for highways and projects where federal regulations
29 would prohibit the use of signs so manufactured; provided, that so far as
30 practicable any manufacture conducted within the walls shall be in connection
31 with metal motor license plates, road or street signs furnished by the state
32 or used by its municipalities, wearing apparel, articles and containers, for
33 state use in the various departments or institutions of the state not for sale
34 upon the open market. When any product produced by the offender shall be used
35 by any department or other institution of the state, the current appropriation
36 shall receive from such department or institution such reimbursement therefor
37 as may be fixed by the state board of correction with the approval of the
38 state board of examiners.
39 (2) Offender labor on community service projects. The state board of cor-
40 rection shall have the authority to assign parolees under department of cor-
41 rection supervision, probationers under court order or department of correc-
42 tion supervision and offender residents of community work centers under the
43 direction or order of the board of correction, as community service workers as
44 set forth in section 72-102(56), Idaho Code. The state board of correction
45 shall have the authority to charge offenders performing community service work
46 an hourly fee in an amount to be determined by the state insurance fund, to be
47 remitted to the state insurance fund for purposes of providing worker's com-
48 pensation insurance for parolees, probationers or community work center resi-
49 dents assigned as community service workers.
50 SECTION 4. That Section 72-436, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby
51 amended to read as follows:
8
1 72-436. BURIAL EXPENSES. If death results from the injury within four (4)
2 years, the employer shall pay to the person entitled to compensation, or if
3 there is none then to the personal representative of the deceased employee,
4 the actual amount of burial expenses as defined in section 72-102(34), Idaho
5 Code.
6 SECTION 5. That Section 72-438, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby
7 amended to read as follows:
8 72-438. OCCUPATIONAL DISEASES. Compensation shall be payable for disabil-
9 ity or death of an employee resulting from the following occupational dis-
10 eases:
11 (1) Poisoning by lead, mercury, arsenic, zinc, or manganese, their prepa-
12 rations or compounds in any occupation involving direct contact therewith,
13 handling thereof, or exposure thereto.
14 (2) Carbon monoxide poisoning or chlorine poisoning in any process or
15 occupation involving direct exposure to carbon monoxide or chlorine in build-
16 ings, sheds, or inclosed places.
17 (3) Poisoning by methanol, carbon bisulphide, hydrocarbon distillates
18 (naphthas and others) or halogenated hydrocarbons, or any preparations con-
19 taining these chemicals or any of them, in any occupation involving direct
20 contact therewith, handling thereof, or exposure thereto.
21 (4) Poisoning by benzol or by nitro, amido, or amino-derivatives of
22 benzol (dinitro-benzol, anilin and others) or their preparations or compounds
23 in any occupation involving direct contact therewith, handling thereof, or
24 exposure thereto.
25 (5) Glanders in the care or handling of any equine animal or the carcass
26 of any such animal.
27 (6) Radium poisoning by or disability due to radioactive properties of
28 substances or to Roentgenray (X-ray) in any occupation involving direct con-
29 tact therewith, handling thereof, or exposure thereto.
30 (7) Poisoning by or ulceration from chromic acid or bichromate of ammo-
31 nium, potassium, or sodium or their preparations, or phosphorus preparations
32 or compounds, in any occupation involving direct contact therewith, handling
33 thereof, or exposure thereto.
34 (8) Ulceration due to tar, pitch, bitumen, mineral oil, or paraffin, or
35 any compound product, or residue of any of these substances, in any occupation
36 involving direct contact therewith, handling thereof, or exposure thereto.
37 (9) Dermatitis venenata, that is, infection or inflammation of the skin,
38 furunculosis excepted, due to oils, cutting compounds, lubricants, liquids,
39 fumes, gases, or vapors in any occupation involving direct contact therewith,
40 handling thereof or exposure thereto.
41 (10) Anthrax occurring in any occupation involving the handling of or
42 exposure to wool, hair, bristles, hides, skins, or bodies of animals either
43 alive or dead.
44 (11) Silicosis in any occupation involving direct contact with, handling
45 of, or exposure to dust of silicon dioxide .
46 (12) Cardiovascular or pulmonary or respiratory diseases of a paid fire-
47 man, employed by a municipality, village or fire district as a regular member
48 of a lawfully established fire department, caused by overexertion in times of
49 stress or danger or by proximate exposure or by cumulative exposure over a
50 period of four (4) years or more to heat, smoke, chemical fumes or other toxic
51 gases arising directly out of, and in the course of, his employment.
52 (13) Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), AIDS related complexes
53 (ARC), other manifestations of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infections,
9
1 infectious hepatitis viruses and tuberculosis in any occupation involving
2 exposure to human blood or body fluids.
3 Recognizing that additional toxic or harmful substances or matter are con-
4 tinually being discovered and used or misused, the above enumerated occupa-
5 tional diseases are not intended to be exclusive, but such additional diseases
6 shall not include hazards which are common to the public in general and which
7 are not within the meaning of section 72-102(212)(a), Idaho Code, and the dis-
8 eases enumerated in subsection (12) of this section pertaining to paid firemen
9 shall not be subject to the limitations prescribed in section 72-439, Idaho
10 Code.
11 SECTION 6. That Section 72-451, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby
12 amended to read as follows:
13 72-451. PSYCHOLOGICAL ACCIDENTS AND INJURIES. Psychological injuries,
14 disorders or conditions shall not be compensated under this title, unless the
15 following conditions are met:
16 (1) Such injuries of any kind or nature emanating from the workplace
17 shall be compensated only if caused by accident and physical injury as defined
18 in section 72-102(158)(a) through (158)(c), Idaho Code, or only if accompany-
19 ing an occupational disease with resultant physical injury, except that a psy-
20 chological mishap or event may constitute an accident where: (i) it results in
21 resultant physical injury so long as the psychological mishap or event meets
22 the other criteria of this section, and (ii) it is readily recognized and
23 identifiable as having occurred in the workplace, and (iii) it must be the
24 product of a sudden and extraordinary event; and
25 (2) No compensation shall be paid for such injuries arising from condi-
26 tions generally inherent in every working situation or from a personnel
27 related action including, but not limited to, disciplinary action, changes in
28 duty, job evaluation or employment termination; and
29 (3) Such accident and injury must be the predominant cause as compared to
30 all other causes combined of any consequence for which benefits are claimed
31 under this section; and
32 (4) Where psychological causes or injuries are recognized by this sec-
33 tion, such causes or injuries must exist in a real and objective sense; and
34 (5) Any permanent impairment or permanent disability for psychological
35 injury recognizable under the Idaho worker's compensation law must be based on
36 a condition sufficient to constitute a diagnosis using the terminology and
37 criteria of the American psychiatric association's diagnostic and statistics
38 manual of mental disorders, third edition revised, or any successor manual
39 promulgated by the American psychiatric association, and must be made by a
40 psychologist, or psychiatrist duly licensed to practice in the jurisdiction in
41 which treatment is rendered; and
42 (6) Clear and convincing evidence that the psychological injuries arose
43 out of and in the course of the employment from an accident or occupational
44 disease as contemplated in this section is required.
45 Nothing herein shall be construed as allowing compensation for psychologi-
46 cal injuries from psychological causes without accompanying physical injury.
47 This section shall apply to accidents and injuries occurring on or after
48 July 1, 1994, and to causes of action for benefits accruing on or after July
49 1, 1994, notwithstanding that the original worker's compensation claim may
50 have occurred prior to July 1, 1994.
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
RS 15458C1
The purpose of this legislation is to define balance billing
under the Worker's Compensation statue and to clarify that
balance billing is not permitted.
FISCAL NOTE
There is no impact on the General Fund.
Contact
Name: Rep. Kathie Garrett
Phone: 332-1000
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE/FISCAL NOTE H 649