HOUSE BILL No. 6005 May 7, 2002, Introduced by Reps. Bisbee, Tabor, Hummel, DeRossett, Howell, Newell, Vander Veen, Voorhees, Patterson, Caul, Raczkowski, Julian, Vear and George and referred to the Committee on Civil Law and the Judiciary. A bill to amend 1969 PA 317, entitled "Worker's disability compensation act of 1969," by amending section 230 (MCL 418.230), as amended by 2000 PA 396. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT: 1 Sec. 230. (1) Except as otherwise provided in this section, 2 the following records are confidential and exempt from disclosure 3 under the freedom of information act, 1976 PA 442, MCL 15.231 to 4 15.246: 5 (a) Records submitted by an individual employer or a group 6 of employers to the bureau in support of an application for 7 self-insured status in the manner provided in section 611. 8 (b) Information concerning the injury of and benefits paid 9 to an individual worker. This includes, but is not limited to, 06048'01 DKH 2 1 all forms, records, and reports filed with or maintained by the 2 bureau concerning the injury of or benefits paid to a worker. 3 (c) Worker's disability compensation insurance policy infor- 4 mation submitted to the bureau by an individual employer or group 5 of employers in accordance with section 615 or a notice of issu- 6 ance of a policy submitted to the bureau by an insurer in accord- 7 ance with section 625. 8 (2) The bureau may release, disclose, or publish information 9 described in subsection (1) under the following circumstances: 10 (a) In the case of subsection (1)(a), (b), or (c), the 11 bureau may disclose or publish aggregate information for statis- 12 tical or research purposes so long as it is disclosed or pub- 13 lished in such a way that the confidentiality of information con- 14 cerning individual workers and the financial records of individ- 15 ual employers or self-insured employers or insurers is 16 protected. The bureau may also release individual records to a 17 recognized academic or scholarly institution for research pur- 18 poses if it is provided with sufficient assurance that the out- 19 side individual or agency will preserve the confidentiality of 20 information concerning individual workers and the financial 21 records of individual self-insured employers. 22 (b) In the case of subsection (1)(b), the bureau may release 23 information to another governmental agency if the governmental 24 agency provides the bureau with sufficient assurance that it will 25 preserve the confidentiality of the information. The other 26 agency may use this information to determine the eligibility of 27 an individual for benefits provided or regulated by that agency. 06048'01 3 1 The bureau or another agency may disclose the information if it 2 determines that the individual is receiving benefits to which he 3 or she is not entitled as the result of receiving more than 1 4 benefit at the same time. 5 (c) Except as otherwise provided, information disclosed in 6 accordance with subdivision (a) or (b) shall continue to be 7 exempt from disclosure under the freedom of information act, 1976 8 PA 442, MCL 15.231 to 15.246. 9 (d) In the case of subsection (1)(b), the bureau may release 10 individual records to a nonprofit health care corporation, as 11 defined in section 105 of the nonprofit health care corporation 12 reform act, 1980 PA 350, MCL 550.1105, for the sole purpose of 13 determining financial liability for the payment of benefits pro- 14 vided by the corporation. Any information provided to the non- 15 profit health care corporation shall be confidential, as provided 16 in section 406 of the nonprofit health care corporation reform 17 act, 1980 PA 350, MCL 550.1406. In a dispute over who assumes 18 liability for the payment of benefits for a particular claim, the 19 nonprofit health care corporation shall initiate payment of bene- 20 fits pending resolution of the dispute. 21 (e) In the case of subsection (1)(c), in response to a 22 request that pertains to a specific employer and includes the 23 employer's address and the date of injury of the claim for which 24 the information is requested, the bureau may disclose the name 25 and address of the insurer that, according to the records of the 26 bureau, provided coverage on the dateonOF injury, but shall 06048'01 4 1 not disclose the effective date or expiration date of the 2 policy. 3 (3) The confidentiality provided for in subsection (1) 4shallDOES not apply to records maintained by the bureau 5whichTHAT are part of or directly related to a contested 6 case. For the purposes of this subsection, a matter shall be 7 considered a contested case when it is the subject of a request 8 for a formal hearing before the director or an application filed 9 in accordance with section 847. 10 (4) Any employeeshall beIS entitled to inspect and 11 obtain a copy of any record maintained by the bureau concerning 12 himself or herself. Any employershall beIS entitled to 13 inspect and obtain a copy of any record maintained by the bureau 14 concerning itself. 15 (5) The confidentiality provided for in subsection (1)(a) 16shallDOES not apply to the records of a self-insured employer 17 that becomes unable to pay benefits under this act due to insol- 18 vency or declaration of bankruptcy. 19 (6) This sectionshallDOES not limit the power of a court 20 of law to subpoena records relevant to a matter pending before 21 it. 22 (7) NOTWITHSTANDING THIS SECTION, THE BUREAU SHALL RELEASE 23 INFORMATION TO THE IV-D AGENCY FOR USE IN THE ESTABLISHMENT AND 24 ENFORCEMENT OF SUPPORT ORDERS AS REQUIRED UNDER THE SUPPORT AND 25 PARENTING TIME ENFORCEMENT ACT, 1982 PA 295, MCL 552.601 TO 26 552.650. 06048'01 Final page. DKH