HB2368

Report Title:

Employer-Requested Examinations

Description:

Requires written notification when more than one medical examination is requested by an employer within a six-month period.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.B. NO.	2368
TWENTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2002
STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

relating to workers' compensation.

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

SECTION 1. Section 386-79, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§386-79 Medical examination by employer's physician. After an injury and during the period of disability, the employee, whenever ordered by the director of labor and industrial relations, shall submit to examination, at reasonable times and places, by a duly qualified physician or surgeon designated and paid by the employer. The employee shall have the right to have a physician or surgeon designated and paid by the employee present at the examination, which right, however, shall not be construed to deny to the employer's physician the right to visit the injured employee at all reasonable times and under all reasonable conditions during total disability.

If an employee refuses to submit to, or in any way obstructs [such] the examination, the employee's right to claim compensation for the work injury shall be suspended until the refusal or obstruction ceases, and no compensation shall be payable for the period during which the refusal or obstruction continues.

In cases where the employer is dissatisfied with the progress of the case or where major and elective surgery, or either, is contemplated, the employer may appoint a physician or surgeon of the employer's choice who shall examine the injured employee and make a report to the employer. If the employer remains dissatisfied, this report may be forwarded to the director.

[Employer requested] Employer-requested examinations under this section shall not exceed more than one per case unless good and valid reasons exist with regard to the medical progress of the employee's treatment. When more than one examination is requested by the employer within a six-month period, written notification of the decision of the department shall be provided to the employer and the employee. The written notification shall include good and valid reasons for approving the employer-requested examination. The cost of conducting the ordered medical examination shall be limited to the complex consultation charges governed by the medical fee schedule established pursuant to section 386-21(c)."

SECTION 2. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 3. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________