Two Democratic lawmakers are sponsoring a measure that would expand doctor choice in workers’ compensation claims. The bill, if passed, would expand an injured worker’s choice of doctors from a minimum list of four medical providers or physicians provided by an employer or insurer to a list of more than 1,000 accredited physicians.
The measure, sponsored by Rep. Jenny Willford and Sen. Cathy Kipp, passed its first hearing in the Colorado House on March 26, but its passage out of committee came at a cost to the initial bill draft.
The bill as introduced would have also shifted the burden of proof to insurers in disputes over medical treatment entitlement claims in addition to the expansion of doctor choice. But an amendment passed in the hearing removed that part of the bill.
Willford said she introduced House Bill 25-1300 because the workers’ compensation system is failing the 30,000 Coloradans that are injured on the job every year. “Our current law gives the upper hand to insurance companies, not to the workers actually living with the injuries,” Willford said.
She noted that when a worker gets injured on the job in Colorado, employers give them a list of four doctors. She said that there could be issues with that list ranging from an inability to pick a doctor of the same gender, who speaks the same language or who shares the culture and lived experiences of the worker. She said that while a worker could request a doctor change, the process is confusing and slow, and it requires most claimants to hire an attorney.
Erin Montgomery, a workers’ compensation attorney and the president-elect of the Workers’ Compensation Education Association, a nonprofit association of workers’ compensation attorneys, said that the current way insurance companies choose doctors for injured Coloradans is not working.
“We think injured workers should choose their own physician, within some parameters, just like the rest of medicine in America works or should work,” Montgomery said. “We believe our injured workers have the right to safe, considerate, respectful medical care in a manner consistent with their beliefs, their personal priorities.”
Several unions were also present at the hearing to show their support for the bill, including the Colorado AFL-CIO, Colorado Professional Firefighters, the Communications Workers of America and the Colorado Education Association.
“Instead of workers receiving better care due to these declining costs, the statutory requirements in the workers’ compensation law still provide substandard care, resulting in slower returns to work, increased legal costs to patients and long term disabilities that pull them out of the workplace entirely,” Kjersten Forseth, representing the Colorado AFL-CIO, said. “Moving to a system where patients can choose their doctor, costs actually decrease. Better quality care actually reduces the costs in workers’ compensation.”
But opposition to the proposed change was also out in force in the committee hearing. More than 200 lobbyists have registered on the bill, with a significant amount of that number registering against it. The groups represented included several regional chambers of commerce and the Colorado Chamber of Commerce, several cities and counties and a wide range of business groups.
Sonja Guenther, testifying on behalf of the Workers’ Compensation Coalition of Colorado, a business advocacy group focused on the issue, said that the current system allows employers to vet the physicians to choose quality, conveniently located care. She said the bill, if enacted, would leave injured workers to navigate a complex website and system by themselves.
Beth Lundquist, director of safety at the construction firm of Heggem Lundquist, said that the current system allows her to vet and choose quality care for the company’s injured employees. “Our employees are part of the Lundquist family, and being able to provide efficient and quality care has been a continued family value in our 75 years of business,” Lundquist said.
Loren Furman, president and CEO of the Colorado Chamber of Commerce, said that a reform was made in 2014 to give injured workers more doctor choices. “We told the sponsor just recently, we’re open to having those conversations again, but that this bill is not necessarily the answer to that problem,” Furman said.
Before its passage on an 8-5 party-line vote, Willford amended the bill to address concerns about impacts to rural providers. She explained that the amendment would require a treating physician designated by the employee to be within 70 miles of the employee’s work or home address, except in cases where there were three or fewer accredited physicians. In those cases, the radius would increase to 100 miles.