Committee advances update to workers' compensation code allowing smaller Board of Review

The Senate Banking and Insurance Committee on March 4 advanced an engrossed committee substitute for House Bill 55, 15, a bill from the Office of the Insurance Commissioner that updates outdated provisions of West Virginia's workers' compensation law.

Counsel to the committee explained the measure would revise articles 4 and 5 of chapter 23 of the West Virginia Code, repeal obsolete sections, make technical corrections, and replace some references to the former commission and board of managers with references to the insurance commissioner where appropriate. The bill also amends board structure by allowing the governor to appoint three to five members to the workers' compensation Board of Review, rather than a fixed five-member panel.

The Insurance Commissioner (identified in the hearing only by role) described the bill as ‘‘the last part of what I consider the cleanup’’ following the privatization of workers' compensation in 2005 and said caseload reductions make a smaller board reasonable. ‘‘So we gave the governor the flexibility of being able to have from 3 to 5 members rather than the 5 that's in the statute now,’’ the commissioner said during brief remarks.

Senator (senior, 13th) praised the broader privatization effort, calling the transition away from a state-run monopoly a ‘‘complete overhaul and turnaround’’ that helped lower premiums and improved the market for employers. After discussion, the committee adopted a strike-and-insert technical amendment offered by counsel and voted to report the bill to the full Senate with a recommendation that it pass.

The committee recorded the passage of a title amendment as well and took no further amendments. The committee did not make a final floor determination; reporting the bill sends it to the full Senate for further consideration.

Action: Vice chairman (speaker 2) moved to report the engrossed committee substitute for House Bill 55, 15 to the full Senate with a recommendation that it do pass; the committee voted in favor and the motion was adopted.

What happens next: The bill will be scheduled for consideration by the full West Virginia Senate.