BILL NUMBER: AB 411INTRODUCED BILL TEXT INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Pan FEBRUARY 14, 2011 An act to amend Section 138.65 of the Labor Code, relating to workers' compensation. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 411, as introduced, Pan. Workers' compensation. Existing law establishes a workers' compensation system, administered by the Administrative Director of the Division of Workers' Compensation, to compensate an employee for injuries sustained in the course of his or her employment. Existing law requires the administrative director, after consultation with the Insurance Commissioner, to contract with a qualified organization to study the effects of the 2003 and 2004 legislative reforms on insurance rates. This bill would make a technical, nonsubstantive change in those provisions. Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated local program: no. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Section 138.65 of the Labor Code is amended to read: 138.65. (a) The administrative director, after consultation with the Insurance Commissioner, shall contract with a qualified organization to study the effects of the 2003 and 2004 legislative reforms on workers' compensation insurance rates. The study shall do, but not be limited to, all of the following: (1) Identify and quantify the savings generated by the reforms. (2) Review workers' compensation insurance rates to determine the extent to which the reform savings were reflected in rates. When reviewing the rates, consideration shall be given to an insurer's premium revenue, claim costs, and surplus levels. (3) Assess the effect of the reform savings on replenishing surpluses for workers' compensation insurance coverage. (4) Review the effects of the reforms on the workers' compensation insurance rates, marketplace, and competition. (5) Review the adequacy and accuracy of the pure premium rate as recommended by the Workers' Compensation Insurance Bureau and the pure premium rate adopted by the Insurance Commissioner. (b) Insurers shall submit to the contracting organization premium revenue, claims costs, and surplus levels in different timing aggregates as established by the contracting organization, but at least quarterly and annually. The contracting organization may also request additional materials when appropriate. The contracting organization and the commission shall maintain strict confidentiality of the data. An insurer that fails to comply with the reporting requirements of this subdivision is subject to Section 11754 of the Insurance Code. (c) The administrative director shall submit to the Governor, the Insurance Commissioner,andthe President pro Tempore of the Senate, the Speaker of the Assembly, and the chairs of the appropriate policy committees of the Legislature, a progress report on the study on January 1, 2005, and July 1, 2005, and the final study on or before January 1, 2006. The Governor and the Insurance Commissioner shall review the results of the study and make recommendations as to the appropriateness of regulating insurance rates. If, after reviewing the study, the Governor and the Insurance Commissioner determine that the rates do not appropriately reflect the savings and the timing of the savings associated with the 2003 and 2004 reforms, the Governor and the Insurance Commissioner may submit proposals to the Legislature. The proposals shall take into consideration how rates should be regulated, and by whom. In no event shall the proposals unfairly penalize insurers that have properly reflected the 2003 and 2004 reforms in their rates, or can verify that they have not received any cost savings as a result of the reforms. (d) The cost of the study shall be borne by the insurers up to one million dollars ($1,000,000). The cost of the study shall be allocated to an insurer based on the insurer's proportionate share of the market.