Publications

Health & Safety Committees
Workers’ Compensation Commission officials currently are visiting employers to determine whether they are in compliance with the regulations promulgated by the Commission last year requiring certain employers to establish Health and Safety Committees. These visits take approximately 30 minutes. Among the information the Commission is looking for is the name of the committee chairperson, the date of the last meeting and copies of committee minutes from recent meetings. The Commission also looks for evidence of the frequency and duration of committee meetings. In order to satisfy the regulations, the committee must meet at least quarterly, and it is expected that the meetings will last approximately one hour. The Commission will also typically seek statistics concerning the total number of recordable accidents, lost-time accidents, and man hours for the most recent two year period, as well as evidence as to what steps have been taken to remedy safety concerns.

First Hearing To Remove a Physician From The List of Approved Physicians
In December 1995, the first hearing was held seeking removal of a physician from the “List of Approved Physicians and Other Practitioners.” Connecticut Administrative Regulation § 31-280-1 authorizes the Commission Chairman to remove a practitioner from the approved list, following a hearing, if the practitioner fails to meet any of the standards detailed in the regulation; removal from the approved list prohibits a practitioner from treating patients in workers’ compensation cases.

The unusual hearing was scheduled after Chairman Frankl received a complaint that this practitioner was using unapproved and unorthodox treatments to relieve back pain resulting from work-related injuries. At the hearing, the practitioner acknowledged that he was not aware of any other pain management facility in Connecticut which provided such treatment for similar injuries. As a result of an agreement reached between the Commission and the provider during the hearing, no further action was taken to remove the provider from the approved list.

Medical Providers’ Fees for Depositions
The Commission recently issued a ruling that all medical providers who appear at depositions in workers’ compensation cases may charge up to $250.00 per hour, including preparation time. Providers may also charge up to $350.00 per hour, including transportation time, when required to attend a workers’ compensation hearing, and may also request prepayment for a maximum of three hours for attending such a hearing.

Revised “COLA”s for Workers’ Compensation Benefits
The Commission has recomputed the cost of living allowances (“COLA”) for October 1994 and October 1995 since an error was made when those COLAs were originally calculated. However, Chairman Frankl has expressly stated that although overpayments may have been made as a result of the miscalculations, employers and insurance companies are not entitled to request reimbursements for the overpayments.