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Bill would clarify employer liability, reporting and medical‑privacy in workers' comp (House Bill 428)
Summary
House Bill 428 would (1) clarify which employer is liable when one employer furnishes a worker to another, (2) simplify reporting requirements, and (3) remove certain personal health information from medical status forms to protect worker privacy. The Department of Labor described a real case that exposed a statutory gap and testified the cleanup restores liability to the party controlling the work.
Representative Morgan Thiel told the committee House Bill 428 makes three technical but consequential changes to workers' compensation law: it clarifies which employer is treated as the liable employer when one employer furnishes a worker to another; it changes insurer reporting from quarterly to annual to reduce administrative burden; and it strikes certain personal health information from medical status forms to protect employee privacy.
Wyndham O'Connor, chief legal counsel for the Department of Labor and Industry, described an instance in which the current statute allowed a loaning employer to avoid liability by not maintaining a work comp policy; the bill, he said, "is just cleaning this up to say whoever's controlling the work is liable under the work compact, so that we can pursue whoever's controlling the work." Insurer and school group witnesses told the committee the changes will simplify reporting and that claims examiners will continue to have access to necessary medical records while employers will receive less sensitive personal‑health information.
Supporters urged the committee that the bill preserves existing employer obligations while closing the gap that allowed uninsured employers to shift liability. The hearing closed with proponents asking for concurrence; no opponents appeared and no committee vote was taken during the session.
