S-2206.1 _______________________________________________
SUBSTITUTE SENATE BILL 5736
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State of Washington 53rd Legislature 1993 Regular Session
By Senate Committee on Labor & Commerce (originally sponsored by Senators Moore, Pelz and Fraser)
Read first time 03/03/93.
AN ACT Relating to chiropractic care for industrial insurance; amending RCW 51.04.030; and adding a new chapter to Title 51 RCW.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. Chiropractic care provided to an injured worker through the division of industrial insurance must be within the scope of practice under chapter 18.25 RCW and limited to the treatment of acute conditions.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. The director shall appoint an associate medical director for chiropractic treatment. The associate medical director must be eligible for licensure under chapter 18.25 RCW.
Sec. 3. RCW 51.04.030 and 1989 c 189 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
The director shall, through the division of industrial insurance, supervise the providing of prompt and efficient care and treatment, including care provided by physicians' assistants governed by the provisions of chapters 18.57A and 18.71A RCW, acting under a supervising physician, and including chiropractic care as defined by chapter 18.25 RCW, to workers injured during the course of their employment at the least cost consistent with promptness and efficiency, without discrimination or favoritism, and with as great uniformity as the various and diverse surrounding circumstances and locations of industries will permit and to that end shall, from time to time, establish and promulgate and supervise the administration of printed forms, rules, regulations, and practices for the furnishing of such care and treatment: PROVIDED, That, the department may recommend to an injured worker particular health care services and providers where specialized treatment is indicated or where cost effective payment levels or rates are obtained by the department: AND PROVIDED FURTHER, That the department may enter into contracts for goods and services including, but not limited to, durable medical equipment so long as state-wide access to quality service is maintained for injured workers.
The director shall make and, from time to time, change as may be, and promulgate a fee bill of the maximum charges to be made by any physician, surgeon, hospital, druggist, physicians' assistants as defined in chapters 18.57A and 18.71A RCW, acting under a supervising physician or other agency or person rendering services to injured workers. No service covered under this title shall be charged or paid at a rate or rates exceeding those specified in such fee bill, and no contract providing for greater fees shall be valid as to the excess.
The director or self-insurer, as the case may be, shall make a record of the commencement of every disability and the termination thereof and, when bills are rendered for the care and treatment of injured workers, shall approve and pay those which conform to the promulgated rules, regulations, and practices of the director and may reject any bill or item thereof incurred in violation of the principles laid down in this section or the rules and regulations promulgated under it.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. Sections 1 and 2 of this act shall constitute a new chapter in Title 51 RCW.
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