Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman JOANN DOWNEY
District 11 (Monmouth)
SYNOPSIS
Concerns second opinions regarding maximum medical improvement of injured workers.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning second opinions on maximum medical improvement of injured workers and supplementing R.S.34:15-15.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. If an injured worker is assessed by a health care provider furnished by the employer and determined to have reached maximum medical improvement, the injured worker shall be entitled to receive upon request, at the expense of the employer or the employer's insurance carrier, an opinion from a second health care provider designated or approved, but not employed on a regular basis, by the employer. The employer or the employer's insurance carrier shall furnish upon request a list of designated or approved health care providers eligible to provide a second opinion on the medical improvement of the injured worker.
2. This act shall take effect 30 days after enactment.
STATEMENT
This bill allows injured workers who are receiving worker’s compensation benefits and are assessed by a healthcare provider and found to have reached their maximum medical improvement to receive, upon request, a second opinion from another health care provider at the expense of their employer or the employer’s insurance carrier. The employer or the insurance carrier will, upon request, furnish a list of health care providers eligible to provide such a second opinion.