On Friday, a study was relaeased that medical costs have been on the rise by at least 9% since 2007.  The reforms in 2002 ansd 2004 were intended to decrease the amount of money spent on workers’ compensation claims including medical expenses and permanent disability settlement amounts.  Although these costs remained low for the first few years, there has been a jump specifically in medical costs believed to be caused by hospital services.

https://www.workcompcentral.com/1/news/news_print.htm?token=CE606B93C40AD889C9ED4173E5AC7040B148687E6B23C00CF64E61CB40004553&state=CA&id=fc1dab8efacd558723c09d92b14c1bfag

The Director of the DIR John Duncan announced that there needs to be a change in PD rates from the reform in 2004.  Although the reform did decrease the amount of money owed in the worker’s compensation system by billions, it also decreased the amount of money an injured worker was payed in regards to his/her permanent disability rating.  The idea for a change is to reform other parts of the system by controlling costs, thus allowing a larger PD rating to the injured worker.  Duncan has until Jan 1, 2010 in order to update this PD rating schedule.