California Senate Bill 403, which attempted to amend Labor Code § 4903.5 by limiting the time a medical provider has to file a lien to one year from the date of receipt of an EOB and/or EOR, was tabled by the Labor and Industrial Relations Committee on April 29, 2009. According to Gary Link, Legislative Director for Senator John J. Benoit, 37th District, "The bill is now a 2 year bill" and the Senator "is going to set up a meeting later in the year with all stakeholders to address concerns".

The bill received opposition from various groups, including the California Applicants' Attorneys Association, the California Association of Collectors, the California Hospital Association, the California Medical Association, and the California Nurses Association.

The issues of concern were the constitutionality of making the bill retroactive in that, "This bill would establish an impractical and unnecessary retroactive statute of limitations for filing medical treatment liens..." as well as the time frame for it to start (March 10, 2010). It was proposed to change the start date to December 2010. Other issues included managing the implementation, which may have the opposite result and cost the medical providers money in order to protect their interest by unnecessarily filing more liens then they do now, which could end up overburdening the WCAB and force employers to foot the bill for increased court systems cost.

More to come in the following months as the bill gets a closer examination from the various senate committees.

To read my blog "Millions of Dollars Owed by Insurance Carriers at Stake if Calif. Senate Bill Becomes Law", click here.