AIA: CAAA LAWSUIT WILL UNDERMINE WORKERS’ COMP REFORMS:

The American Insurance Association (AIA) issued a statement in response to the lawsuit filed by the California Applicant Attorneys Association (CAAA) challenging the regulations regarding Medical Provider Networks (MPNs) recently adopted by the Division of Workers’ Compensation (DWC), which were mandated by the 2004 workers’ compensation reform package–SB 899, authored by Sen. Chuck Poochigian (R). “Here we go again,” said Ken Gibson, AIA vice president, Western region. “As employers and insurers expected and predicted, the applicant attorneys are right on schedule in their attempts to sabotage the workers’ compensation reforms enacted by the legislature and signed by the governor earlier this year. Employers and insurers warned that these kind of lawsuits can and will thwart the implementation of California’s important 2004 reforms. Lawsuits, like the one announced, are exactly what will cause the 2004 effort to fail just as previous reform efforts have come up short in the translation process from enactment to implementation. The Legislature and Gov. Schwarzenegger (R) took a close look at California’s flawed workers’ compensation system and decided major changes were needed. Now, just as the state’s system is attracting new carriers into the marketplace, and right before the permanent partial disability regulations are about to be issued by the DWC, CAAA is using the courts in an attempt to protect those elements of the system that line their pocket books.”