68th OREGON LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY--1995 Regular Session

NOTE:  Matter within  { +  braces and plus signs + } in an
amended section is new. Matter within  { -  braces and minus
signs - } is existing law to be omitted. New sections are within
 { +  braces and plus signs + } .

LC 533

                         House Bill 2040

Ordered printed by the Speaker pursuant to House Rule 12.00A (5).
  Presession filed (at the request of Department of Consumer and
  Business Services)


                             SUMMARY

The following summary is not prepared by the sponsors of the
measure and is not a part of the body thereof subject to
consideration by the Legislative Assembly. It is an editor's
brief statement of the essential features of the measure as
introduced.

  Modifies definition of 'doctor' or 'physician' under workers'
compensation law.

                        A BILL FOR AN ACT
Relating to qualifications for providing medical services under
  workers' compensation law; amending ORS 656.005.
Be It Enacted by the People of the State of Oregon:
  SECTION 1. ORS 656.005 is amended to read:
  656.005. (1) 'Average weekly wage' means the Oregon average
weekly wage in covered employment, as determined by the
Employment Department, for the last quarter of the calendar year
preceding the fiscal year in which the injury occurred.
  (2) 'Beneficiary' means an injured worker, and the husband,
wife, child or dependent of a worker, who is entitled to receive
payments under this chapter. However, a spouse of an injured
worker living in a state of abandonment for more than one year at
the time of the injury or subsequently is not a beneficiary. A
spouse who has lived separate and apart from the worker for a
period of two years and who has not during that time, received or
attempted by process of law to collect funds for support or
maintenance, is considered living in a state of abandonment.
  (3) 'Board' means the Workers' Compensation Board.
  (4) 'Carrier-insured employer' means an employer who provides
workers' compensation coverage with a guaranty contract insurer.
  (5) 'Child' includes a posthumous child, a child legally
adopted prior to the injury, a child toward whom the worker
stands in loco parentis, an illegitimate child and a stepchild,
if such stepchild was, at the time of the injury, a member of the
worker's family and substantially dependent upon the worker for
support. An invalid dependent child is a child, for purposes of
benefits, regardless of age, so long as the child was an invalid
at the time of the accident and thereafter remains an invalid
substantially dependent on the worker for support. For purposes
of this chapter, an invalid dependent child is considered to be a
child under 18 years of age.
  (6) 'Claim' means a written request for compensation from a
subject worker or someone on the worker's behalf, or any
compensable injury of which a subject employer has notice or
knowledge.
  (7)(a) A 'compensable injury' is an accidental injury, or
accidental injury to prosthetic appliances, arising out of and in
the course of employment requiring medical services or resulting
in disability or death; an injury is accidental if the result is
an accident, whether or not due to accidental means, if it is
established by medical evidence supported by objective findings,
subject to the following limitations:
  (A) No injury or disease is compensable as a consequence of a
compensable injury unless the compensable injury is the major
contributing cause of the consequential condition.
  (B) If a compensable injury combines with a preexisting disease
or condition to cause or prolong disability or a need for
treatment, the resultant condition is compensable only to the
extent the compensable injury is and remains the major
contributing cause of the disability or need for treatment.
  (b) 'Compensable injury' does not include:
  (A) Injury to any active participant in assaults or combats
which are not connected to the job assignment and which amount to
a deviation from customary duties;
  (B) Injury incurred while engaging in or performing, or as the
result of engaging in or performing, any recreational or social
activities primarily for the worker's personal pleasure; or
  (C) Injury the major contributing cause of which is
demonstrated to be by clear and convincing evidence the injured
worker's consumption of alcoholic beverages or the unlawful
consumption of any controlled substance, unless the employer
permitted, encouraged or had actual knowledge of such
consumption.
  (c) A 'disabling compensable injury' is an injury which
entitles the worker to compensation for disability or death.
  (d) A 'nondisabling compensable injury' is any injury which
requires medical services only.
  (8) 'Compensation' includes all benefits, including medical
services, provided for a compensable injury to a subject worker
or the worker's beneficiaries by an insurer or self-insured
employer pursuant to this chapter.
  (9) 'Department' means the Department of Consumer and Business
Services.
  (10) 'Dependent' means any of the following-named relatives of
a worker whose death results from any injury and who leaves
surviving no widow, widower or child under the age of 18 years:
Father, mother, grandfather, grandmother, stepfather, stepmother,
grandson, granddaughter, brother, sister, half sister, half
brother, niece or nephew, who at the time of the accident, are
dependent in whole or in part for their support upon the earnings
of the worker. Unless otherwise provided by treaty, aliens not
residing within the United States at the time of the accident
other than father, mother, husband, wife or children are not
included within the term 'dependent.  '
  (11) 'Director' means the Director of the Department of
Consumer and Business Services.
  (12)(a) 'Doctor' or 'physician' means a person duly licensed to
practice one or more of the healing arts in   { - this - }  { +
any + } state { + , country, territory or possession of the
United States + } within the limits of the license of the
licentiate.
  (b) 'Attending physician' means a doctor or physician who is
primarily responsible for the treatment of a worker's compensable
injury and who is:
  (A) A medical doctor or doctor of osteopathy   { - licensed
under ORS 677.100 to 677.228 by the Board of Medical Examiners
for the State of Oregon - }  or a board certified oral surgeon
licensed   { - by the Oregon Board of Dentistry - }  { +  under
the laws of any state, country, territory or possession of the
United States + }; or

  (B) For a period of 30 days from the date of first visit on the
claim or for 12 visits, whichever first occurs, a   { - doctor
or - }   { +  chiropractic + } physician licensed   { - by the
State Board of Chiropractic Examiners for the State of Oregon - }
 { + under the laws of any state, country, territory or
possession of the United States + }.
  (c) 'Consulting physician' means a doctor or physician who
examines a worker or the worker's medical record to advise the
attending physician regarding treatment of a worker's compensable
injury.
  (13) 'Employer' means any person, including receiver,
administrator, executor or trustee, and the state, state
agencies, counties, municipal corporations, school districts and
other public corporations or political subdivisions, who
contracts to pay a remuneration for and secures the right to
direct and control the services of any person.
  (14) 'Guaranty contract insurer' and 'insurer' mean the State
Accident Insurance Fund Corporation or an insurer authorized
under ORS chapter 731 to transact workers' compensation insurance
in this state.
  (15) 'Consumer and Business Services Fund' means the fund
created by ORS 705.145.
  (16) 'Invalid' means one who is physically or mentally
incapacitated from earning a livelihood.
  (17) 'Medically stationary' means that no further material
improvement would reasonably be expected from medical treatment,
or the passage of time.
  (18) 'Noncomplying employer' means a subject employer who has
failed to comply with ORS 656.017.
  (19) 'Objective findings' in support of medical evidence
include, but are not limited to, range of motion, atrophy, muscle
strength, muscle spasm and diagnostic evidence substantiated by
clinical findings.
  (20) 'Party' means a claimant for compensation, the employer of
the injured worker at the time of injury and the insurer, if any,
of such employer.
  (21) 'Payroll' means a record of wages payable to workers for
their services and includes commissions, value of exchange labor
and the reasonable value of board, rent, housing, lodging or
similar advantage received from the employer. However, 'payroll '
does not include overtime pay, vacation pay, bonus pay, tips,
amounts payable under profit-sharing agreements or bonus payments
to reward workers for safe working practices. Bonus pay is
limited to payments which are not anticipated under the contract
of employment and which are paid at the sole discretion of the
employer. The exclusion from payroll of bonus payments to reward
workers for safe working practices is only for the purpose of
calculations based on payroll to determine premium for workers'
compensation insurance, and does not affect any other calculation
or determination based on payroll for the purposes of this
chapter.
  (22) 'Person' includes partnership, joint venture, association
and corporation.
  (23) 'Self-insured employer' means an employer or group of
employers certified under ORS 656.430 as meeting the
qualifications set out by ORS 656.407.
  (24) 'State Accident Insurance Fund Corporation' and '
corporation' mean the State Accident Insurance Fund Corporation
created under ORS 656.752.
  (25) 'Subject employer' means an employer who is subject to
this chapter as provided by ORS 656.023.
  (26) 'Subject worker' means a worker who is subject to this
chapter as provided by ORS 656.027.
  (27) 'Wages' means the money rate at which the service rendered
is recompensed under the contract of hiring in force at the time
of the accident, including reasonable value of board, rent,
housing, lodging or similar advantage received from the employer,
and includes the amount of tips required to be reported by the
employer pursuant to section 6053 of the Internal Revenue Code of
1954, as amended, and the regulations promulgated pursuant
thereto, or the amount of actual tips reported, whichever amount
is greater. The State Accident Insurance Fund Corporation may
establish assumed minimum and maximum wages, in conformity with
recognized insurance principles, at which any worker shall be
carried upon the payroll of the employer for the purpose of
determining the premium of the employer.
  (28) 'Worker' means any person, including a minor whether
lawfully or unlawfully employed, who engages to furnish services
for a remuneration, subject to the direction and control of an
employer and includes salaried, elected and appointed officials
of the state, state agencies, counties, cities, school districts
and other public corporations, but does not include any person
whose services are performed as an inmate or ward of a state
institution or as part of the eligibility requirements for a
general or public assistance grant.
  (29) 'Independent contractor' has the meaning for that term
provided in ORS 670.600.
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