SB1605 - 551R

Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:

Section 1. Section 23-908, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE23-908. Injury reports by employer and physician; schedule of fees; violation; classification

A. Every employer that is affected by this chapter, and every physician who attends an injured employee of that employer, shall file with the commission and the employer's insurance carrier from time to time a full and complete report of every known injury to the employee arising out of or in the course of employment and resulting in loss of life or injury. The report shall be furnished to the commission and the insurance carrier at times and in the form and detail the commission prescribes, and the report shall make special answers to all questions required by the commission under its rules.

B. The commission shall fix a schedule of fees to be charged by physicians, physical therapists or occupational therapists attending injured employees and, subject to subsection C of this section, for prescription medicines required to treat an injured employee under this chapter. Notwithstanding subsection C of this section, the schedule of fees may include other reimbursement guidelines for medications dispensed in settings that are not accessible to the general public. The commission shall annually review the schedule of fees.

C. If a schedule of fees for prescription medicines adopted pursuant to subsection B of this section includes provisions regarding the use of generic equivalent drugs or interchangeable biological products, those provisions shall comply with section 32-1963.01, subsections A, B and D through L. If the commission considers the adoption of fee schedule provisions that involve specific prices, values or reimbursements for prescription drugs, the commission shall base the adoption on studies or practices that are validated and accepted in the industry, including the applicability of formulas that use average wholesale price, plus a dispensing fee, and that have been made publicly available for at least one hundred eighty days before any hearing conducted by the commission.

D. Notwithstanding section 12-2235, information obtained by any physician or surgeon examining or treating an injured person shall not be considered a privileged communication if that information is requested by interested parties for a proper understanding of the case and a determination of the rights involved. Hospital records of an employee concerning an industrial claim shall not be considered privileged if requested by an interested party in order to determine the rights involved. Medical information from any source pertaining to conditions unrelated to the pending industrial claim shall remain privileged.

E. When an accident occurs to an employee, the employee shall forthwith report the accident and the injury resulting from the accident to the employer, and any physician employed by the injured employee shall forthwith report the accident and the injury resulting from the accident to the employer, the insurance carrier and the commission.

F. If an accident occurs to an employee other than a public safety employee as defined in section 23-908.01, the employer may designate in writing a physician chosen by the employer, who shall be permitted allowed by the employee, or any person in charge of the employee, to make one examination of the injured employee in order to ascertain the character and extent of the injury occasioned by the accident. If an accident occurs to a public safety employee as defined in section 23-908.01, the commission shall randomly select from the list developed pursuant to section 23-908.01 a physician who shall be allowed by the public safety employee, or any person in charge of the public safety employee, to make one examination of the injured public safety employee in order to ascertain the character and extent of the injury occasioned by the accident. The physician so chosen shall forthwith report to the employer, the insurance carrier and the commission the character and extent of the injury as the physician ascertains. If the accident is not reported by the employee or the employee's physician forthwith, as required, or if the injured employee or those in charge of the employee refuse to permit allow the employer's physician to make the examination, and the injured employee is a party to the refusal, no compensation shall be paid for the injury claimed to have resulted from the accident. The commission may relieve the injured person or that person's dependents from the loss or forfeiture of compensation if it believes after investigation that the circumstances attending the failure on the part of the employee or physician to report the accident and injury are such as to have excused them.

G. Within ten days after receiving notice of an accident, the employer shall inform the insurance carrier and the commission on the forms and in the manner as prescribed by the commission.

H. Immediately on notice to the employer of an accident resulting in an injury to an employee, the employer shall provide the employee with the name and address of the employer's insurance carrier, the policy number and the expiration date.

I. Any person failing or refusing to comply with this section is guilty of a petty offense. END_STATUTE

Sec. 2. Title 23, chapter 6, article 1, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended by adding section 23-908.01, to read:

START_STATUTE23-908.01. List of approved physicians; public safety employees; definition

A. The commission shall develop and annually update a list of approved physicians to conduct initial examinations under section 23-908 of public safety employees or periodic medical examinations under section 23-1026 of public safety employees.

B. For the purposes of this section, "Public safety employee" means any of the following:

1. A law enforcement officer, including a municipal or county police officer or a department of public safety officer.

2. A firefighter.

3. A corrections officer.

Sec. 3. Section 23-1026, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE23-1026. Periodic medical examination of employee; effect of refusal or obstruction of examination or treatment; definition

A. An employee who may be entitled to compensation under this chapter shall submit himself the employee for medical examination from time to time at a place reasonably convenient for the employee, if and when requested by the commission, his the employee's employer or the insurance carrier. A place is reasonably convenient even if it is not where the employee resides if it is the place where the employee was injured and the employer or the insurance carrier pays in advance the employee's reasonable travel expenses, including the cost of transportation, food, lodging and loss of pay, if applicable.

B. The request for the medical examination shall fix a time and place having regard to the convenience of the employee, his the employee's physical condition and his the employee's ability to attend. The employee may have a physician present at the examination if procured and paid for by the employee.

C. If the employee refuses to submit to the medical examination or obstructs the examination, his the employee's right to compensation shall be suspended until the examination has been made, and no compensation shall be payable during or for such period.

D. A physician who makes or is present at the medical examination provided by this section may be required to testify as to the result of the examination. The physician is not subject to a complaint for unprofessional conduct to the physician's licensing board if the complaint is based on a disagreement with the findings and opinions expressed by the physician as a result of the examination.

E. On appropriate application and hearing, the commission may reduce or suspend the compensation of an employee who persists in unsanitary or injurious practices tending to imperil or retard his the employee's recovery, or who refuses to submit to medical or surgical treatment reasonably necessary to promote his the employee's recovery.

F. An employee shall be excused from attending a scheduled medical examination if the employee requests a protective order and the administrative law judge finds that the scheduled examination is unnecessary, would be cumulative or could reasonably be timely scheduled with an appropriate physician where the employee resides. If a protective order is requested, the burden is on the employer or insurance carrier to establish that a medical examination should be scheduled at a place other than where the employee resides. If an employee has left this state and the employer or insurance carrier pays in advance the employee's reasonable travel expenses, including the cost of transportation, food, lodging and loss of pay, if applicable, the employer or insurance carrier is entitled to have the employee return to this state one time a year for examination or one time following the filing of a petition to reopen.

G. If a physician performs an examination under this section and is provided data from the Arizona state board of pharmacy pursuant to title 36, chapter 28, the physician may disclose that data to the employee, employer, insurance carrier and commission.

H. Notwithstanding any other law, The commission shall randomly select from the list developed pursuant to section 23-908.01 a physician to conduct any examination of a public safety employee under this section.

I. For the purposes of this section, "public safety employee" has the same meaning prescribed in section 23-908.01. END_STATUTE