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MONTANA SELF INSURERS' ASSOCIATION

MSIA Legislative Update 4/7/23 - Week 13

  • This Week’s Legislative Action 
  • SB 369 – Vaccine Reaction Claims
  • SB 165 – Eliminate Common Law Bad Faith Actions
  • SB 310 – Add Specific Cancers to FireFighters Presumption Law
  • SB 22 – Independent Contractors
  • HB 590 – Violence Against Health Care Workers
  • HB 836 – Create a Regulatory Sandbox
  • HB 636 – Decrease ownership level for WC Exemption 
  • Welcome New MSIA Member – Preferred Medical !
  • MSF Annual Medical Conference – Whitefish - 4/27 & 28
  • NCSI Annual Conference – Denver 6/4 – 6/7
  • Legislative Action 


During the legislative process, nothing is really dead until the day after they go home. 


That was evident this week, when Senator Jeremy Trebas (R-Great Falls) suddenly amended SB 369 at the hearing in front of the House Business & Labor Committee on 4/5 (details below). The bill, when originally introduced provided for statutory language providing adverse reactions to employer mandated vaccinations were compensable and included potential congenital anomalies and birth defects. MSIA worked with the Senator to delete that language in the Senate, and despite that mandated vaccine reactions are already covered under the law, as a result of the agreement to delete the future generations language we supported the bill. The surprise amendment provided a presumption of coverage for any employer mandated vaccine reaction. We thought the presumption bills were already dead. This demonstrates, nothing is really dead until the day after they go home. 


We will continue to monitor all the legislation previously reported, even if we do not take a position, to watch for changes that can happen at any time in the process. When there is action, or a change, we will update the report. Otherwise, if the bill is not in the weekly report, nothing has happened since the last report on that bill. 



SB 369                Trebas               R – Great Falls                This bill specifically identifies in workers’ compensation statute that an injury or accident covered under the law would include a “serious adverse event” experienced by an employee after receiving a vaccine mandated by the employer. The amendment MSIA worked on with the sponsor deleted the language including “a congenital anomaly or a birth defect.” In requiring that the adverse reaction be a “serious adverse event,” the bill may create a higher standard than currently exists. The bill passed the Senate on 3/2 by a vote of 47 – 3. The bill was heard by the House Business & Labor Committee on 4/5, where the sponsor introduced an amendment to provide a presumption of benefits for mandated vaccination adverse reactions. While this was a surprise, MSIA was among the two people in attendance and testified against the amendment. We also provided formal testimony to the Committee and organized other business and insurance interests in opposition to the change. The bill was tabled (almost totally dead) by the Committee on 4/6 13 – 6, with more conservative members of the majority voting to keep the bill alive. 


SB 165                Usher                 R-Billings                         This bill requires first and third party claimants against insurers to provide information and cooperate with an insurers’ claims adjudication process in a timely man(almost certainly dead ner and provides insurers an affirmative defense if they do not. In addition, it amends the Unfair Trade Practices Act (UTPA) so that third party claimants would no longer have a common law bad faith action opportunity against insurers, as created in the BREWINGTON v EMPLOYERS FIRE INS C :: 1999 :: Montana Supreme Court Decision. Under the current law, first party claimants (your insured) have a private right of action against their insurer, should the company not deal in good faith in adjudicating the claim. Third party claimants, under this proposal, would specifically have the same rights, and be limited to those rights. The bill passed final reading in the Senate 34-14 along party lines on 2/16. The bill was heard in the House Business & Labor Committee on 4/4, who passed the bill 18 – 1 on 4/5. The bill passed 2nd reading in the House today, 4/7 with an 83 – 15 vote, indicating it should pass the House early next week. Should that happen, the Governor is expected to approve the bill as well.  MSIA supports this bill.


SB 310                Small                  R-Busby                           This bill adds ovarian and testicular cancers to the list of presumptive illnesses covered for firefighters. This bill has the support of leadership and we were told it will pass and we can expect it to be signed by the Governor. The bill passed the Senate on 2/28 by a vote of 34 – 16, with mostly the more conservative members voting against. It was heard in House Business & Labor Committee on 3/31 and passed by them on 4/5 with a 19 – 0 vote. It has passed 2nd reading in the House with a 95 – 4 vote today, 4/7, indicating it should pass the full House early next week. MSIA opposes this bill but did not testify. 


SB 22                  Morigeau          D-Missoula                    This bill is the clean-up of the attempt last session to require the Department of Labor to do more investigation regarding an independent contractor or employee designation in addition to relying on the presence, or absence, of an ICEC. The bill has been amended so that someone who presents an Independent Contractor Exemption Certificate (ICEC) is presumed to be an independent contractor, unless the ICEC is forged or otherwise fraudulent, or the ICEC expired within 120 days while working with that contractor. The amended bill passed final reading in the Senate 48 – 0 on 2/16. The bill passed the full House on 4/3 by a vote of 93 – 6. Next is to the Governor’s desk, where he is expected to sign the bill. MSIA supported the bill.


HB 590              Buttrey             R – Great Falls                This bill requires health care employers to report incidents of violence against health care workers. Unlike the Senate Version (SB 241, which was withdrawn by the sponsor, it does not require a workers’ compensation claim be made by the employer. The bill was heard by the Senate Business, Labor and Economic Affairs Committee on 4/4. With the change from the Senate version, MSIA did not take a position on this bill. 


HB 836               K. Zolnikov        R-Billings                        This bill is an MSF proposal to create a ‘regulatory sandbox’ to allow for additional, limited experimentation within the marketplace. It is not limited to workers’ compensation. The idea is to permit new ideas that do not fit within the regulatory scheme to have some freedom to be tested out, within a somewhat controlled environment. The bill permits these experiments as long as there is a written business plan, no negative impacts to consumers and no negative impacts to the financial solvency of the insurance carrier and it would be limited to 10,000 policyholders. An ‘innovation waiver’ from regulation for a period of up to three years would be provided, reporting would be required, and it only applies to property and casualty insurance. MSF reports they would like to see how it might be applied to return to work and safety programs in workers’ compensation. The bill passed the House Business & Labor Committee on 3/27, passed 19 – 0 on 3/28 and then passed the House on 4/3 with a 97 – 2 vote. It is scheduled to be heard in the Senate Business, Labor & Economic Affairs Committee on 4/12. Within the context of return to work and safety programs, MSIA supported the proposal. 


HB 636               J. Kassmier        R-Bozeman                     This bill would reduce the corporate officer/owner threshold for WC coverage exemption from 20% ownership of the business to 10%. The bill passed the House on 3/2 by a vote of 96 - 3. The bill was heard by the Senate Business, Labor & Economic Affairs Committee on 4/4 and passed that day 10 - 0. MSIA is monitoring this bill. 


  • Welcome New MSIA Member – Preferred Medical !


A national workers' compensation medical bill review processor, pharmacy benefit manager and ancillary services provider, Preferred Medical remains the independent, stable choice for insurance carriers, self-insured employers and third-party administrators. 


Since its founding in 1997, Preferred Medical's expert, tenured team does what it takes to give its clients the best offense and defense to drive greater impact on clinical outcomes and the bottom line. By tailoring its approach, commitment to responsiveness and with a steadfast focus on workers' compensation, Preferred Medical takes the pain out of managing every claim it touches. Learn more at www.thepreferredmedical.com, Amy Writesel at amy.wrightwsel@thepreferredmedical.com 502-299-5336 or Arnold Silvestri at arnold.silvestri@thepreferredmedical.com 925-788-5478


  • MSF Annual Medical Conference – 4/27 & 28

Managing Recovery & Return to Work is the theme of Montana State Fund’s 21st annual medical conference. This Conference is typically one of the best held in Montana and I highly encourage claims examiners and health care professional members to consider attending. This year the event will be held at the Lodge at Whitefish Lake, April 26-28, 2023 and rooms are already gone – however, they have overflow lodging available. Register now! The Conference is 

Conference helps us understand and connect with the Montana medical community and provide an opportunity for them to connect with us. 

With the expansion from one day to two, MSF has taken advantage of bringing in more prominent speakers. This year I am familiar with some and know they will provide insight and interesting presentations. Bill Zachry, formerly with Safeway and Board Chair for the CA State Insurance Fund, Dr. Marcos Iglesias, VP and Chief Medical Director for Travelers and Tyrone Spears, City of Los Angeles Division Director, heading up their self insured workers’ compensation program are all excellent speakers and bring insight into our work that sets them apart. 

Conference Topics

  • Claims: A Medical Perspective – R. David Bauer, MD, Orthopedic Independent Medical Examinations
  • Medical Technology in Workers’ Compensation – Bill Zachry
  • Preventing Delayed Recovery by Addressing Psychosocial Barriers – Dr. Marcos Iglesias
  • A Comprehensive Approach to Pain Medicine – Aaron Cross, DO Helena Orthopedic Clinic
  • Successes and Challenges with Return to Work – Tyrone Spears
  • Medical Expert Testimony – Imperatives, Principles and Methodologies – Donald Sinclair, Attorney, Steptoe & Johnson, PLLC 
  • A Perspective from the Workers’ Compensation Court – MT WC Court Judge David Sandler
  • Tears and Lies My Radiologist Told Me – R. David Bauer
  • The Story You Don’t Hear About: How Caregivers Changed My Life for the Better – Cody Byrns, Founder Cody Byrns Foundation for Burn Survivors

Register for Conference and Book Hotel Accommodations.

  • NCSI 2023 Annual Conference – Denver 6/4 – 6/7 


Join our colleagues June 4 – 7 at the Grand Hyatt Denver for one of the few national self-insured conferences in the country. MSIA is a member of the Executive Committee of NCSI and this national conference is within driving distance for many of us. Join us in Denver! 


Conference topics include:


  • How to Leverage Loss Trend Analysis, Injury Investigations and Training to Reduce Cost and Keep Claims Down 
  • Medical Marijuana – Delving Into the Weeds
  • Impact of Specialty Drugs on Employers – Phil Walls, Chief Clinical Officer, myMatrixx (an MSIA member!)
  • Making Medicare Work Better….5 Steps to Improve Medicare Practices to Reduce Risk and Settle Claims
  • Maintaining Professional Communication in a Whiny World
  • Solved: How Virtual Reality Technology Delivers Cost-Effective Pain Relief and Mental Health
  • Intelligent Litigation Strategies to Support Return to Work Endeavors
  • Finding the Right Questions to Shut Down a Claim
  • Why Mediation Should Be in Your Risk Management Tool Box
  • Connect the Dots: Bridging Technologies for Brilliant Claim Outcomes
  • Alcohol Use Disorder Poses a Serious Risk for Employers. Finally a Novel Solution That Works
  • The Patient is the Wildcard!
  • How to Defend Couch Claims? The New Remote Worker and Workers’ Compensation Liability
  • Are Non-Submit MSAs Under Attack by CMS? 
  • The Growing World of Whole Person Recovery Management 


See you next week!