Amendments to Michigan Workers’ Compensation Statute Become Law Michigan House Bill 5002, as amended and passed by the Senate on December 7, 2011, was signed into law by Governor Rick Snyder on December 19, 2011. The law was given immediate effect by the legislature during passage. The amendments are not retroactive and will apply only to claims arising from injury dates occurring on and after December 19, 2011. The amendments are favorable to employers and insurers. Important case law regarding causation, disability and residual wage earning capacity (Rakestraw, Fahr, Stokes, Lofton, and Harder) were made into statutory law, preventing future courts from changing the law by overruling those cases (MCL 418.301(1) and (4)). Some of the additional important changes in the statute include the following: - “Degenerative arthritis” was specifically identified as a condition of “the aging process”, subjecting it to the “significant manner” proof standard (MCL 418.301(2)); - In mental disability claims, employees must prove that their perception of the actual events of employment leading to their mental disability were “reasonably grounded in fact or reality” (MCL 418.301(2)); - If an employee is terminated from employment for fault while working in favored work, the employee is barred from receiving wage loss benefits (MCL 418.301(9)(a); - Employees now have an affirmative duty to seek reasonable employment or have their wage loss benefits reduced by wages that could have been earned in work available to them (MCL 418.301(4)(d)); - Coordination of employer-funded retirement benefits the employee becomes eligible to receive at normal retirement age is now permitted, whether or not the employee elects to receive the benefits at that time (MCL 418.364(1)(d)); - The Trammel decision (holding that a total knee joint replacement surgery constituted a specific loss) was essentially reversed, now requiring that the effect of a medical procedure, implant or joint replacement must be considered in determining a specific loss (MCL 418.361(2)); - The 10% interest on accrued benefits was eliminated and replaced with a tie to prevailing interest rates (MCL 418.801 (6)); - The employer’s ability to control the employee’s post injury medical treatment was increased from 10 days to 28 days (MCL 418.315(1)); and - Mediation was eliminated (Formerly MCL 418.223). These changes and others will be discussed and analyzed at our firm’s workshop on January 20, 2012. They may provide additional bases for disputing benefits. The following is a link to the full text of the enacted statutory amendments: http://www.legislature.mi.gov/documents/2011-2012/publicact/pdf/2011-PA-0266.pdf 01/03/12