Sec. 1. 39-A MRSA §312, sub-§2, as enacted by PL 1991, c. 885, Pt. A, §8 and affected by §§9 to 11, is amended to read:

2. Duties. An independent medical examiner shall render medical findings on the medical condition of an employee and related issues as specified under this section. The independent medical examiner in a case may not be the employee's treating health care provider and may not have treated the employee with respect to the injury for which the claim is being made or the benefits are being paid. Nothing in this subsection precludes the selection of a provider authorized to receive reimbursement under section 206 to serve in the capacity of an independent medical examiner. A physician who has examined an the employee at the request of an insurance company, employer or employee in accordance with section 207 during the previous 52 weeks is not eligible to serve as an independent medical examiner.

SUMMARY

The purpose of this bill is to expand the number of qualified medical professionals who are eligible to perform independent and more timely medical assessments relating to workers' compensation medical benefits.

In a recent case, Lydon v. Sprinkler Services, 841 A2d 793 (Me. 2004), the Law Court concluded that the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 39-A, section 312, subsection 2 precludes the use of a physician as an independent medical examiner if that physician has examined any employee, not merely the employee whose case is at issue. This bill specifies that it is a physician who examines "the" employee, not any employee, at the request of an insurance company during the previous 52 weeks who is prohibited from serving as an independent medical examiner.