S-0862.1  _______________________________________________

                         SENATE BILL 5615

          _______________________________________________

State of Washington      54th Legislature     1995 Regular Session

By Senators Pelz, Franklin, Hargrove, Snyder, Bauer, Fraser, McAuliffe, Smith, Prentice, Heavey and Rinehart

Read first time 01/30/95.  Referred to Committee on Labor, Commerce & Trade.

Revising provisions relating to compensation during reconsideration of department of labor and industries industrial insurance orders.

    AN ACT Relating to compensation during reconsideration of department of labor and industries' industrial insurance orders; and amending RCW 51.52.050.

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

    Sec. 1.  RCW 51.52.050 and 1987 c 151 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) Whenever the department has made any order, decision, or award, it shall promptly serve the worker, beneficiary, employer, or other person affected thereby, with a copy thereof by mail, which shall be addressed to such person at his or her last known address as shown by the records of the department.  The copy, in case the same is a final order, decision, or award, shall bear on the same side of the same page on which is found the amount of the award, a statement, set in black faced type of at least ten point body or size, that such final order, decision, or award shall become final within sixty days from the date the order is communicated to the parties unless a written request for reconsideration is filed with the department of labor and industries, Olympia, or an appeal is filed with the board of industrial insurance appeals, Olympia((:  PROVIDED, That)).  However, a department order or decision making demand, whether with or without penalty, for repayment of sums paid to a provider of medical, dental, vocational, or other health services rendered to an industrially injured worker, shall state that such order or decision shall become final within twenty days from the date the order or decision is communicated to the parties unless a written request for reconsideration is filed with the department of labor and industries, Olympia, or an appeal is filed with the board of industrial insurance appeals, Olympia.

(2) Whenever the department has taken any action or made any decision relating to any phase of the administration of this title, the worker, beneficiary, employer, or other person aggrieved thereby may request reconsideration of the department, or may appeal to the board.  If an employer requests reconsideration of a department order in favor of an injured worker, temporary total disability compensation or medical aid benefits granted to the worker by the order under reconsideration shall continue while the reconsideration is pending, subject to the requirements of RCW 51.32.240(3).

(3) In an appeal before the board, the appellant shall have the burden of proceeding with the evidence to establish a prima facie case for the relief sought in such appeal((:  PROVIDED, That)).  However, in an appeal from an order of the department that alleges fraud, the department or self-insured employer shall initially introduce all evidence in its case in chief.  ((Any such)) A person aggrieved by the decision and order of the board may thereafter appeal to the superior court, as prescribed in this chapter.

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