REGULATORY ACTIVITY:

• The Prepaid Health Care Advisory Council will meet on June 28, 2018.  To view the notice and agenda, go to http://labor.hawaii.gov/dcd/news/phc-advisory-council-meeting/.

REGULATORY ACTIVITY:

• Has published Form HC-5 Employee Notification to Employer for Calendar Year 2018.
• A public hearing regarding the Workers’ Compensation Medical Fee Schedule will be held on October 26, 2017 at 8:30 am.

FEE SCHEDULE NEWS:

• The state has adopted changes to the drug and biological (ASP) fee schedule retroactive to January 1, 2017.

FEE SCHEDULE NEWS:

• The state has adopted changes to the physician, drug and biological (ASP), clinical lab and DME fee schedules with an effective date of January 1, 2017. The next expected update is for January 1, 2018.

REGULATORY ACTIVITY:

• The director of the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations posted notice that the adoption of the proposed amendments to the workers' compensation medical fee schedule and exhibit A, Workers' Compensation Supplemental Medical Fee Schedule dated January 1, 2017, is deferred until further notice.  The director directed participants to continue to use the current rules and exhibit a dated January 1, 2014 fee schedule.

FEE SCHEDULE NEWS:

• The state has adopted changes to the Physician, Drug and Biological (ASP), Clinical Lab and DME fee schedules with an effective date of January 1, 2016. The next expected update is for January 1, 2017.

REGULATORY ACTIVITY:

• The Workers’ Compensation Medical Fee Schedule public hearing took place on November 17, 2016 at 8:30 a.m. at the Kellikolani Building 830 Punchbowl Street Rooms 310, 313, and 314 in Honolulu, Hawaii.
• The proposed changes to the Workers’ Compensation Medical Fee Schedule in Title 12, Chapter 15, HAR, and Exhibit A are:
  • to implement Act 101, effective June 21, 2016 (SLH 2016), which allows physicians and providers of service other than physicians to transmit a workers’ compensation treatment plan by mail or facsimile to an address or facsimile number provided by the employer
  • pursuant to section 386-21(c), HRS, which requires the director to update the fee schedule every three years or annually, as required
  • pursuant to Act 97 (SLH 2013) which required the State Auditor to assist the Director of Labor and Industrial Relations in the administrative adjustment of the workers’ compensation medical fee schedule
• David Ige signed into law Acts 187 and 192 on July 1, which increase the penalties for non-compliance with certain labor laws administered by the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations (DLIR). Act 187 also excludes some employers from having to provide Temporary Disability Insurance (TDI) for themselves if they perform services for their own corporation, limited liability company (LLC), limited liability partnership (LLP), partnership, or sole proprietorship.
• “DLIR supported the substantial increase in penalties to serve as a deterrent to help enforce the law,” said DLIR Director Linda Chu Takayama. “It also makes for a more level playing field for law-abiding employers who pay their fair share and provide the statutory benefits to their workers.”  Earlier this year DLIR participated in an on-site investigation of tenant contractors working on the new Ewa Wing at Ala Moana Center. The regulatory action uncovered dozens of violations related to unlicensed activity, uninsured workers and unpaid taxes.
• The new laws increase penalties for workers’ compensation insurance from $10 per employee per day to $100 per employee per day, the first increase in 28 years. The penalty for non-compliance with maintaining temporary disability insurance increased from $1 per employee per day to $100 per employee per day. TDI penalties had not changed since they were first established 47 years ago in 1969.

LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS:

• House Bill 2017 HD1 SD2 CD1
  The enacted legislation authorizes physicians to submit workers’ compensation treatment plans to employers by mail or facsimile. Beginning January 1, 2021, requires employers to allow physicians to submit workers’ compensation treatment plans to employers by mail, facsimile, or secure electronic means.  Specifies requirements for receipt and acceptance of treatment plans.  Effective Date June 22, 2016.
• House Bill 2353 HD2 SD2 CD1
  The enacted legislation makes various positions within the state energy office exempt from civil service. For a period of three years, authorizes the department of health to establish 18 exempt forensic psychologist positions and 2 exempt Hawaii state hospital primary care physician positions.  For a period of three years, provides a civil service exemption for various positions in the department of human services, department of public safety, and the department of health. Effective Date July 1, 2016.
• House Bill 2363
  This legislation amends Hawaii’s laws on workers’ compensation (WC) and temporary disability insurance (TDI) to:
  • Exclude the following from providing TDI coverage for services they provide for themselves: sole proprietors, an individual partner of a partnership, a partner of a limited liability partnership with an interest of at least 50 percent, an individual member of a limited liability company with a distributional interest of at least 50 percent, or individual owning at least 50 percent of a corporation;
  • Allow the Director of Labor and Industrial Relations to receive electronic copies of injury and other reports;
  • Increase the penalty for employers who do not have TDI coverage for employees from not less than $25 or $1 per employee per day, to not less than $500 or $100 per employee per day;
  • Increase the penalty from not more than $2,500 to not more than $5,000 against an employer or insurance carrier for failure to make correct or timely benefit payments or to terminate such benefits without approval or statutory cause;
  • Increase the penalty for failure to file medical reports from $250 to $500, and for employer’s failure to provide copies of requested medical reports from $1,000 to $5,000;
  • Increase the penalty for employers who do not have WC coverage for employees from not less than $250 or $10 per employee per day, to not less than $500 or $100 per employee per day; and
  • Increase the penalty from $2,500 to $5,000 against an employer for the deduction of premium payments from an employee’s wages. Effective Date July 1, 2016.
• House Bill 2715
  The enacted legislation requires the Auditor to contract with an actuarial firm that has experience conducting workers’ compensation closed claims studies in the United States to perform a study of closed claims in the State’s workers’ compensation system, subject to consultation and conference with two members of the Legislature selected by the House Speaker and the Senate President, respectively. Appropriates funds and requires matching funds.  Effective Date July 1, 2016.