WORKER'S COMP: CONFIDENTIAL RECORDS - S.B. 1173 (S-1): FLOOR ANALYSIS
Senate Bill 1173 (Substitute S-1 as reported)
Sponsor: Senator Bill Bullard, Jr.
Committee: Financial Services
CONTENT
The bill would amend the Worker's Disability Compensation Act to provide that workers' disability compensation insurance policy information submitted to the Bureau of Workers' Disability Compensation by an individual employer or group of employers under Section 615, or a notice of issuance of a policy submitted to the Bureau by an insurer under Section 625, would be confidential and exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act. (Section 615 requires reports as to employees, work, and insurance coverage upon request of the Bureau Director. Section 625 requires an insurer to file with the Director a notice of issuance of a policy, effective date, and coverage.) Currently, the Act provides an exemption from disclosure for records submitted by an individual employer or a group of employers in support of an application for self-insured status, and information concerning the injury of and benefits paid to an individual worker.
The Act permits the Bureau to release, disclose, or publish confidential information under certain circumstances. These include the disclosure or publication of aggregate information for statistical or research purposes, as long as it is disclosed or published in a way that protects the confidentiality of information about individual workers and the financial records of individual employers or self-insured employers. The information made confidential under the bill also would be subject to this provision.
The bill further specifies that in the case of workers' disability compensation insurance policy information, in response to a request that pertained to a specific employer and included the employer's address and the date of the injury of the claim for which the information was requested, the Bureau could disclose the name and address of the insurer that, according to the Bureau's records, provided coverage on the date of injury, but could not disclose the effective date or expiration date of the policy.
MCL 418.230 - Legislative Analyst: N. Nagata
FISCAL IMPACT
The bill would have no fiscal impact on State or local government.
Date Completed: 5-4-00 - Fiscal Analyst: M. Tyszkiewiczfloor\sb1173 (S-1) - Analysis available @ http://www.michiganlegislature.org
This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan Senate staff for use by the Senate in its deliberations and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.