Arizona – An Arizona bill, HB 2272, was amended to include workers' compensation coverage for firefighters and certified peace officers diagnosed with Post-Traumatic-Stress-Disorder (PTSD) to cover a treatment protocol of MDMA (ecstasy) as prescribed by a healthcare provider. The bill passed the House Committee of the whole earlier this week.
Kansas – The Kansas Senate unanimously passed SB430—a reform bill that would increase benefits for injured workers to receive future medical treatment after reaching maximum medical improvement (MMI). The bill passed 40-0 through the Senate Committee on Commerce. Specifically, the bill would increase the maximum death, temporary total, permanent partial, and temporary partial disability benefits. The bill would increase maximum death benefits from $300,000 to $500,000; increase permanent total disability benefits from $155,000 to $400,000; and increase permanent partial and temporary partial disability benefits from $130,000 to $225,000.
New York – The New York State Workers’ Compensation Board is hosting a free webinar for employers, injured workers, and their advocates. The webinar “Workers’ Comp 202 Best Practices To Access Benefits For Workers” will take place on February 28th from 10am to 11:30am ET. According to the website, the webinar will cover the following topics:
- Understanding labor market
Details on benefit periods and how benefit rates are calculated - The importance of items such as the degree of disability and the Carrier Continue Payments (CCP) order
How advocates can help workers and comply with privacy provisions - The Workers' Compensation Board's New York Medical Treatment Guidelines
Oklahoma – The Oklahoma Workers’ Compensation Commission will be holding a public hearing on the proposed 2024 medical fee schedule on March 14th in Oklahoma City at 10am ET. The Commission plans to release the proposed fee schedule Monday, February 26th. The proposed fee schedule will be made available here.
Oregon – Legislators introduced HB 4149 and if passed the bill would require PBMs to be licensed and changes the definition of a PBM. The act would also change how drug stores can appeal the amounts that a PBM pays the drug store for drugs sold and would change the way PBMS audit drug stores.
Texas – The Texas Division of Workers’ Compensation seeks stakeholder input on future rulemaking projects. DWC is specifically interested in suggestions for new rules or revisions to the agency’s current regulations. DWC has provided a website-based submission portal to submit suggested rulemaking projects with a submission sheet of 8 questions. The portal is available here.
Utah – Representative Raymond P. Ward (R) introduced HB 576 which aims to revise provisions related to controlled substances. Specifically, HB 576 would amend provisions including timing requirements for pharmacists’ date entry into the database, and the circumstances when a prescriber can check the database for information about a patient.
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