Feature Story - Oklahoma House Bill 2205: The Option's Salvation or Demise?
Faced with the Workers' Comp commission's February 2016 ruling that the Option is unconstitutional, and other constitutional setbacks to the 2013 Administrative Workers' Compensation Act, the Oklahoma Legislature worked hard in the final months of the 2016 Regular Legislative Session in search of a legislative "fix".
House Bill 2205 was originally filed in 2015 as a "clean up" bill that refined the law based upon recommendations supported by the Oklahoma Insurance Department and Workers' Compensation Commission. However, in April 2016, with less than 60 days remaining in the Legislative Session, the Senate approved amendments to House Bill 2205. Those amendments would have:
- Made the Oklahoma Option the functional equivalent of workers' compensation,
- Removed employee accountability,
- Obscured medical provider accountability,
- Reduced employer engagement, and
- Created more red tape and disputes than workers' compensation, with two separate trial de novos on every disputed claim.
What was represented to be the Option's salvation would have been a death sentence. Following complaints from Option employers regarding this effective elimination of the Oklahoma Option, House Bill 2205 failed to pass in the House of Representatives and the Oklahoma Legislative Session ended on May 27, 2016.
Option supporters remain very supportive of adapting the Option to Oklahoma's unique needs. but the combination of changes finally proposed in House Bill 2205 would have effectively eliminated this competitive Option that is delivering superior results for injured workers and employers.