Act No. 566

Public Acts of 2002

Approved by the Governor

October 3, 2002

Filed with the Secretary of State

October 3, 2002

EFFECTIVE DATE: December 1, 2002

STATE OF MICHIGAN

91ST LEGISLATURE

REGULAR SESSION OF 2002

Introduced by Reps. Bisbee, Tabor, Hummel, DeRossett, Howell, Newell, Vander Veen, Voorhees, Patterson, Caul, Raczkowski, Julian, Vear and George

ENROLLED HOUSE BILL No. 6005

AN ACT to amend 1969 PA 317, entitled "An act to revise and consolidate the laws relating to worker's disability compensation; to increase the administrative efficiency of the adjudicative processes of the worker's compensation system; to improve the qualifications of the persons having adjudicative functions within the worker's compensation system; to prescribe certain powers and duties; to create the board of worker's compensation magistrates and the worker's compensation appellate commission; to create certain other boards; to provide certain procedures for the resolution of claims, including mediation and arbitration; to prescribe certain benefits for persons suffering a personal injury under the act; to prescribe certain limitations on obtaining benefits under the act; to create, and provide for the transfer of, certain funds; to prescribe certain fees; to prescribe certain remedies and penalties; to repeal certain parts of this act on specific dates; and to repeal certain acts and parts of acts," by amending section 230 (MCL 418.230), as amended by 2000 PA 396.

The People of the State of Michigan enact:

Sec. 230. (1) Except as otherwise provided in this section, the following records are confidential and exempt from disclosure under the freedom of information act, 1976 PA 442, MCL 15.231 to 15.246:

(a) Records submitted by an individual employer or a group of employers to the bureau in support of an application for self-insured status in the manner provided in section 611.

(b) Information concerning the injury of and benefits paid to an individual worker. This includes, but is not limited to, all forms, records, and reports filed with or maintained by the bureau concerning the injury of or benefits paid to a worker.

(c) Worker's disability compensation insurance policy information submitted to the bureau by an individual employer or group of employers in accordance with section 615 or a notice of issuance of a policy submitted to the bureau by an insurer in accordance with section 625.

(2) The bureau may release, disclose, or publish information described in subsection (1) under the following circumstances:

(a) In the case of subsection (1)(a), (b), or (c), the bureau may disclose or publish aggregate information for statistical or research purposes so long as it is disclosed or published in such a way that the confidentiality of information concerning individual workers and the financial records of individual employers or self-insured employers or insurers is protected. The bureau may also release individual records to a recognized academic or scholarly institution for research purposes if it is provided with sufficient assurance that the outside individual or agency will preserve the confidentiality of information concerning individual workers and the financial records of individual self-insured employers.

(b) In the case of subsection (1)(b), the bureau may release information to another governmental agency if the governmental agency provides the bureau with sufficient assurance that it will preserve the confidentiality of the information. The other agency may use this information to determine the eligibility of an individual for benefits provided or regulated by that agency. The bureau or another agency may disclose the information if it determines that the individual is receiving benefits to which he or she is not entitled as the result of receiving more than 1 benefit at the same time.

(c) Except as otherwise provided, information disclosed in accordance with subdivision (a) or (b) shall continue to be exempt from disclosure under the freedom of information act, 1976 PA 442, MCL 15.231 to 15.246.

(d) In the case of subsection (1)(b), the bureau may release individual records to a nonprofit health care corporation, as defined in section 105 of the nonprofit health care corporation reform act, 1980 PA 350, MCL 550.1105, for the sole purpose of determining financial liability for the payment of benefits provided by the corporation. Any information provided to the nonprofit health care corporation shall be confidential, as provided in section 406 of the nonprofit health care corporation reform act, 1980 PA 350, MCL 550.1406. In a dispute over who assumes liability for the payment of benefits for a particular claim, the nonprofit health care corporation shall initiate payment of benefits pending resolution of the dispute.

(e) In the case of subsection (1)(c), in response to a request that pertains to a specific employer and includes the employer's address and the date of injury of the claim for which the information is requested, the bureau may disclose the name and address of the insurer that, according to the records of the bureau, provided coverage on the date of injury, but shall not disclose the effective date or expiration date of the policy.

(3) The confidentiality provided for in subsection (1) does not apply to records maintained by the bureau that are part of or directly related to a contested case. For the purposes of this subsection, a matter shall be considered a contested case when it is the subject of a request for a formal hearing before the director or an application filed in accordance with section 847.

(4) Any employee is entitled to inspect and obtain a copy of any record maintained by the bureau concerning himself or herself. Any employer is entitled to inspect and obtain a copy of any record maintained by the bureau concerning itself.

(5) The confidentiality provided for in subsection (1)(a) does not apply to the records of a self-insured employer that becomes unable to pay benefits under this act due to insolvency or declaration of bankruptcy.

(6) This section does not limit the power of a court of law to subpoena records relevant to a matter pending before it.

(7) Notwithstanding this section, the bureau shall release information to the IV-D agency in accordance with section 4 of the office of child support act, 1971 PA 174, MCL 400.231 to 400.239. As used in this subsection, "IV-D agency" means that term as defined in section 2 of the support and parenting time enforcement act, 1982 PA 295, MCL 552.602.

Enacting section 1. This amendatory act takes effect December 1, 2002.

This act is ordered to take immediate effect.

Clerk of the House of Representatives.

Secretary of the Senate.

Approved

Governor.