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Witnesses and agency clash over giving attending physicians more authority in workers' comp care
Summary
Senate Bill 5,847 would let attending physicians deviate from L&I treatment guidelines when medically appropriate, expand access when network care is unavailable, and set timelines for utilization review. Supporters said it codifies the Murray decision; the agency and business groups warned it could undermine evidence-based standards and raise costs without testing.
Senate Bill 5,847, sponsored by Senator Saldana, would change several workers' compensation medical provisions, including allowing injured workers to seek treatment from a provider of their choice when a network provider is not available within 15 miles, permitting attending providers to deviate from L&I treatment guidelines when they determine it is medically appropriate, shortening utilization-review timelines, and extending certain coverage such as ongoing cancer monitoring.
Proponents — labor councils, injured-worker attorneys, trial lawyers and medical witnesses — framed the bill as restoring attending-physician decision-making in line with the Washington Supreme Court’s Murray decision and as a practical fix for…
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