SB28 (2005) Detail

Relative to confidentiality and workers' compensation.


CHAPTER 278

SB 28 – FINAL VERSION

25May2005… 1060h

06/29/05 2000cofc

2005 SESSION

05-0757

01/09

SENATE BILL 28

AN ACT relative to confidentiality and workers’ compensation.

SPONSORS: Sen. Flanders, Dist 7; Sen. Clegg, Dist 14; Sen. Foster, Dist 13; Rep. Kurk, Hills 7

COMMITTEE: Banks and Insurance

ANALYSIS

This bill exempts proceedings and records of the department of labor with respect to workers’ compensation under RSA 281-A from the right-to-know law.

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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.

Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]

Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

25May2005… 1060h

06/29/05 2000cofc

05-0757

01/09

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Five

AN ACT relative to confidentiality and workers’ compensation.

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

278:1 New Section; Workers’ Compensation; Confidentiality. Amend RSA 281-A by inserting after section 21-a the following new section:

281-A:21-b Confidentiality of Workers’ Compensation Claims. Proceedings and records of the department of labor with respect to workers’ compensation claims under RSA 281-A shall be exempt from RSA 91-A. Nothing in this section shall prohibit the department of labor from releasing information on a person’s claim or claims to the person, the person’s legal representative, attorney, health care providers, employer, the employer’s workers’ compensation insurer, the attorneys for the employer or employer’s insurer, or state and federal agencies with relevant jurisdiction. Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, information relating to a person’s claim or claims may be released to other parties only with the prior written permission of the claimant.

278:2 Records and Reports; Exception. Amend RSA 273-A:16, II to read as follows:

II. Except as provided in paragraph IV, all documents and records of the board shall be public records and shall be kept for a minimum of 10 years.

278:3 New Paragraph; Records and Reports; Exception. Amend RSA 273-A:16 by inserting after paragraph III the following new paragraph:

IV. In adjudicatory hearings conducted by the board, the board’s deliberative processes shall be privileged and exempt from the public disclosure provisions of RSA 91-A. Decisions and orders in these adjudicatory hearings, including any prehearing orders required by RSA 541-A:31, V(d), shall be publicly available, but only after they have been reduced to writing, signed by a representative of the board, and served upon the parties.

278:4 Repeal. RSA 273:5, II, relative to maintaining the confidentiality of certain records pertaining to workers' compensation claimants, is repealed.

278:5 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.

(Approved: July 22, 2005)

(Effective Date: September 20, 2005)