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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T
SPONSOR Leavell
ORIGINAL DATE
LAST UPDATED
1/27/07
HB
SHORT TITLE Workers Comp Calculations for Impairment
SB 153
ANALYST Lucero
ESTIMATED ADDITIONAL OPERATING BUDGET IMPACT (dollars in thousands)
FY07
FY08
FY09 3 Year
Total Cost
Recurring
or Non-Rec
Fund
Affected
Total
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)
SOURCES OF INFORMATION
LFC Files
Responses Received From
Workers’ Compensation Administration (WCA)
SUMMARY
Synopsis of Bill
Senate Bill 153 proposes to limit benefits for loss of use to medical based findings contained in
the American Medical Association’s Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment.
Essentially removes subjective assignment of a loss of use percentage by a workers’
compensation judge (WCJ).
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
None to the Workers’ Compensation Administration.
SIGNIFICANT ISSUES
SB0153 does not provide a date for which the proposed amendment would be effective. It is
unclear if all injury cases would have to be re-evaluated or just those occurring after the bill has
been signed and become law. Some states specify in statute an effective date for the use of the
Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment.
Use of the AMA guide may reduce loss of use claims from the workers’ compensation system in
New Mexico, which may limit the amount of compensation paid to a worker for impairment as
determined by the authorized health care provider.