AN ACT Relating to retrospective and experience rating for accident and medical aid fund premiums under industrial insurance; amending RCW 51.16.035 and 74.46.180; and adding a new section to chapter 51.44 RCW.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

Sec. 1. Section 16, chapter 289, Laws of 1971 ex. sess. as last amended by section 4, chapter 129, Laws of 1980 and RCW 51.16.035 are each amended to read as follows:

The department shall classify all occupations or industries in accordance with their degree of hazard and fix therefor basic rates of premium which shall be the lowest necessary to maintain actuarial solvency of the accident and medical aid funds in accordance with recognized insurance principles. The department shall formulate and adopt rules and regulations governing the method of premium calculation and collection and providing for a rating system consistent with recognized principles of workers' compensation insurance which shall be designed to stimulate and encourage accident prevention and to facilitate collection. The rating system shall provide for experience rating of individual employer accident and medical aid fund premiums and shall give employers the option of having their accident and medical aid fund premiums calculated according to a retrospective rating program. The department may annually, or at such other times as it deems necessary to maintain solvency of the funds, readjust rates in accordance with the rating system to become effective on such dates as the department may designate.

The department shall begin to implement experience rating and retrospective rating for medical aid fund premiums as soon as feasible, with implementation to be completed no later than January 1, 1989.

The department may insure the workers' compensation obligations of employers as a group if the following conditions are met:

(1) All the employers in the group are members of an organization that has been in existence for at least two years;

(2) The organization was formed for a purpose other than that of obtaining workers' compensation coverage;

(3) The occupations or industries of the employers in the organization are substantially similar, taking into consideration the nature of the services being performed by workers of such employers;

(4) The employers in the group constitute at least fifty percent of the total employers in such organization; and

(5) The formation and operation of the group program in the organization will substantially improve accident prevention and claim management for the employers in the group.

In providing an employer group plan under this section, the department may consider an employer group as a single employing entity for purposes of dividends or premium discounts.

Sec. 2. Section 18, chapter 177, Laws of 1980 as amended by section 11, chapter 67, Laws of 1983 1st ex. sess. and RCW 74.46.180 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) The state shall make payment of any underpayments within thirty days after the date the preliminary or final settlement report is submitted to the contractor.

(2) A contractor found to have received either overpayments or erroneous payments under a preliminary or final settlement shall refund such payments to the state within thirty days after the date the preliminary or final settlement report is submitted to the contractor, subject to the provisions of subsections (3), (4), and (7) of this section.

(3) Within the cost centers of nursing services and food, all savings resulting from the respective allowable costs being lower than the respective reimbursement rate paid to the contractor during the report period shall be refunded. In computing a preliminary or final settlement, savings in a cost center may be shifted to cover a deficit in another cost center up to the amount of any savings: PROVIDED, That not more than twenty percent of the rate in a cost center may be shifted into that cost center and no shifting may be made into the property cost center.

(4) Within the cost centers of administration and operations and property, the contractor shall retain at least fifty percent, but not more than seventy-five percent, of any savings resulting from the respective, audited, allowable costs being lower than the respective reimbursement rates paid to the contractor during the report period multiplied by the number of authorized medical care client days in which said rates were in effect. The secretary, by rule and regulation, shall establish the basis for the specific percentages of savings to the contractors. Such rules and regulations may provide for differences in the percentages allowed for each cost center to individual facilities based on performance measures related to administrative efficiency.

(5) All allowances provided by RCW ((~~74.46.525(2) and~~)) 74.46.530 shall be retained by the contractor. Any industrial insurance dividend or premium discount under RCW 51.16.035 shall be retained by the contractor ((~~to the extent that such dividend or premium discount is attributable to the contractor's private patients~~)).

(6) In the event the contractor fails to make repayment in the time provided in subsection (2) of this section, the department shall either:

(a) Deduct the amount of refund due plus assessment of interest, as determined by the secretary, from payment amounts due the contractor; or

(b) In the instance the contract has been terminated, (i) deduct the amount of refund due plus an assessment of interest, determined by the secretary, from any payments due; or (ii) assess the amount due plus interest, as determined by the secretary, on the amount due.

(7) Where the facility is pursuing timely-filed judicial or administrative remedies in good faith regarding settlement issues, the contractor need not refund nor shall the department withhold from the facility current payment amounts the department claims to be due from the facility but which are specifically disputed by the contractor. If the judicial or administrative remedy sought by the facility is not granted after all appeals are exhausted or mutually terminated, the facility shall make payment of such amounts due plus interest accrued from the date of filing of the appeal, as payable on judgments, within sixty days of the date such decision is made.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. A new section is added to chapter 51.44 RCW to read as follows:

(1) When a claim results from an employee's exposure to an occupational disease, the employer who last exposed the employee shall be initially liable for compensating the worker for any benefits provided under this title.

(2)(a) When a claimant's exposure to the occupational disease hazard occurred under two or more employers, the cost of such claim shall be apportioned among responsible employers.

(b) When one employer exposes a worker to an occupational disease hazard, but has insured as a self-insurer and through the state fund, the cost of such claim shall be apportioned to the degree that each is responsible.

(3) An employer who is liable under subsection (1) of this section may file a petition for apportionment of liability among responsible employers in accordance with rules prescribed by the department. Pursuant to such petition, the department may (a) order any self-insurer to pay the prorated cost of any occupational disease claim, or (b) charge any state fund employers experience rating based on such employer's share of the occupational disease.