Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a number of smaller bills into law during the 2025 legislative session, but perhaps the bill with the widest impact could be a bill requiring a template for all qualified medical evaluator reports.
The governor signed Assembly Bill 1293 into law this past October, which calls for the Division of Workers’ Compensation to develop templates for QME reports and communications with QMEs. The bill requires the Division of Workers’ Compensation to:
- Make a joint medical evaluation request form.
- Make a template form for QME reports, to help QMEs include all necessary statutory and regulatory requirements.
- Establish a method for grading the quality of QME reporting, which would also include standards as to whether QME reports are a) incomplete and whether they are b) insubstantial evidence on PD or apportionment. This would also incorporate use of Findings and Award and Opinions on Decision.
- Create new regulations regarding all of the above.
The DWC would have until Jan. 1, 2027, to implement those provisions. The DWC’s rulemaking process often takes at least 4-6 months due to the regulatory proceedings and public comment periods. With that in mind, one would imagine that they will have to promulgate new regulations in the immediate future, as in the next several months before putting them up for a public comment.
As we reported last April, the:
- Creation of a joint medical evaluation request form could eliminate gamesmanship with setting QME evaluations.
- Template for QME reports has it’s pros and its cons. On the bright side, it could encourage QMEs to write more detailed reports that address all the issues. On the downside, it could create new areas for gamesmanship by QMEs and parties, and could also lead to QMEs commenting on unnecessary topics.
OTHER BILLS SIGNED INTO LAW
In other news, Gov. Gavin Newsom also signed the following bills into law:
- AB 1125 – extends the heart presumption to peace officers for state hospitals.
- SB 230 – grants firefighters at commercial airports the same statutory presumptions as firefighters at the Department of Defense, and NASA.
- SB 291– requires the Contractors State Licensing Board to mention its annual report any actions it has taken against illegally-uninsured contractors.
- SB 779 – increases minimum civil penalties to $1,500 for violations relating to unlicensed contractors.
- SB 847 – grants the Administrative Director of the DWC the authority to determine whether the sale of real property by a uninsured employer (or substantial shareholder of one) was done to avoid liability, that the DWC can attach a lien against that transaction via a constructive trust.
- SB 447 – permits minor dependents of deceased firefighters, peace officers, and Sheriff’s special officers of Orange County to remain on their parent’s group health insurance through the age of 26. Current law only allows them to remain on their parent’s insurance until age 21.
- SB 487 – known as the “anti-subrogation bill.” This bill states that police officers and firefighters receive no less than two-thirds of a third-party defendant’s liability insurance policy limit when the following criteria are met:
- Their damages in the third-party suit exceed the net amount recoverable after satisfying the employer’s lien for workers’ compensation payments;
- And the third-party defendant’s total liability insurance limits are too low to fully compensate all damages.
- AB 1398 – requires physicians to disclose any disclosures of financial interest in entities that receive their referrals. So if a physician refers an applicant for diagnostics at another company that their family has a financial interest in, they would have to provide a written disclosure to any third-party payers about that relationship. Violations of this section could be punished as misdemeanors.
- SB 590 – while not expressly-related to workers’ compensation, this bill would expand eligibility for paid family leave benefits from EDD for people who miss work to care for a “seriously ill designated person.” It would require people who apply for the program to state under penalty of perjury the relationship to the seriously ill person.
- SB 517 – requires home improvement contracts to contain a disclosure about whether or not subcontractors will be used on the project. This is notable because home improvement contracts already have a notice about workers’ compensation insurance. The combination of the disclosure and the notice could in theory make it easier for homeowners to confirm that they are protected by workers’ compensation coverage.
- SB 294 – would establish the Workplace Know Your Rights Act. In short, this would impact employer notice requirements advising employees of their workplace rights.
- SB 809 – allows trucking companies that misclassify their truckers as independent contractors to avoid additional civil penalties if they properly classify their drivers as employees by 1/1/29.
- AB 1514 – exempts manicurists and commercial fishers from being labeled as “employees” under the ABC Test.
- SB 20 – requires slab shop owners to state, in writing, that they have provided appropriate training to employees who cut, crush, or machine stone containing at least 10% silica. This is aimed at preventing silicosis..
Got a question about workers’ compensation defense issues or pending legislation? Feel free to contact John P. Kamin. Mr. Kamin is a workers’ compensation defense attorney and partner at Bradford & Barthel’s Woodland Hills location, where he monitors the recent legislative affairs as the firm’s Director of the Editorial Board. Mr. Kamin previously worked as a journalist for WorkCompCentral, where he reported on work-related injuries in all 50 states. Please feel free to contact John at jkamin@bradfordbarthel.com or at (818) 654-0411.
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