Reference is to the bill as introduced.
Amend the bill, as and if amended, by striking all after the enacting words and inserting:
/ SECTION 1. Section 42-15-90 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 42-15-90.
(A)
Fees for attorneys and physicians
Attorney fees, physician fees, and charges of
hospitals hospital charges for services under
this title shall be are subject to the
approval of the commission;, but
no a physician or hospital shall
be entitled to may not collect
fees a fee from an employer or insurance
carrier until he the physician or
hospital has made the reports required by the commission in
connection with the case.
(B)(1)
Any person who receives any fee or other
consideration or any gratuity on account of services so
rendered, unless such consideration or gratuity is approved by
the Commission or such court or who makes it a business to
solicit employment for a lawyer or for himself in respect of any
claim or award for compensation shall be guilty of a misdemeanor
and, upon conviction thereof, shall, for each offense, be
punished by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars or by
imprisonment not to exceed one year, or by both such fine and
imprisonment. A person may not:
(a)
receive a fee, gratuity, or other consideration
for a service rendered pursuant to this title unless the fee,
gratuity, or other consideration is approved by the commission
or a court of competent jurisdiction; or
(b)
make it a business to solicit employment for an
attorney or himself with respect to a claim or award for
compensation under this title.
(2)
A violation of this section constitutes a
misdemeanor and, upon conviction, each offense is subject to a
fine not more than five hundred dollars, imprisonment for not
more than one year, or both.
(C)(1)
The commission may adopt criteria to establish a new
fee schedule or adjust an existing fee schedule based in whole
or in part on the requirements of a federally funded program,
but if it adopts adjustments to an existing fee schedule, it
must adopt these adjustments on an annual basis. The commission
shall review a proposed adjustment to increase or reduce these
fees by more than ten percent annually to determine whether
to:
(a)
increase or reduce the proposed adjustment as
the commission considers appropriate; or
(b)
accept the proposed adjustment.
(2)(a)
A decision of the commission to increase
or reduce a fee schedule is reviewable by expedited appeal to
the Administrative Law Court pursuant to the Administrative
Procedures Act.
(b)
On appeal, the court may:
(i)
accept the increase or
decrease;
(ii)
impose a lesser increase or decrease;
(iii)
revert the fee schedule to as it was
immediately prior to the annual adjustment;
(iv)
adjust the appropriate conversion factors as
necessary; or
(v)
make other adjustments the court considers
reasonable.
(c)
The court shall issue a decision within ninety
days after it receives the appeal.
(d)
During the pendency of this appeal, the portion
of the fee schedule under review must remain the same as it was
immediately prior to the proposed changes, but all other
portions of the fee schedule or conversion factors are effective
and remain unchanged."
SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor. /
Renumber sections to conform.
Amend title to conform.