Printed Page 4650, May 30
| Printed Page 4670, May 30
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Printed Page 4650, May 30
| Printed Page 4670, May 30
| Rep. KIRSH spoke in favor of the amendment.
Rep. CATO spoke against the amendment and moved to table the amendment.
Rep. KIRSH demanded the yeas and nays, which were taken resulting as follows:
Those who voted in the affirmative are:
Anderson Askins Bailey Baxley Beck Brown, G. Brown, J. Byrd Cain Carnell Cato Clyburn Cobb-Hunter Cotty Dantzler Delleney Felder Fulmer Gamble Harrell Harris, J. Hines, J. Hines, M. Hodges Inabinett Jennings Keegan Kelley Keyserling Kinon Klauber Law Lee Limbaugh Lloyd Martin McAbee McCraw McElveen McMahand Neal Neilson Quinn Rhoad Rogers Sandifer Sharpe Sheheen Shissias Smith, R. Spearman Stuart Townsend Trotter Waldrop Whatley Whipper, L. Whipper, S. Wilder Wilkes Wilkins Williams Witherspoon Wofford Young Young-Brickell
Those who voted in the negative are:
Davenport Easterday Fleming Hallman Harris, P. Howard Hutson Jaskwhich Kirsh Koon Lanford Limehouse Littlejohn Loftis Mason
Meacham Phillips Rice Richardson Riser Seithel Simrill Smith, D. Stille Stoddard Tripp Tucker Vaughn Wells Wright
So, the amendment was tabled.
Rep. ROBINSON proposed the following Amendment No. 5A (Doc Name P:\amend\DKA\3799JM.96), which was tabled.
Amend the bill, as and if amended, by striking SECTIONS 3, 4, 5, 10, and 11 in their entirety.
Amend further, page 8, by striking SECTION 12 (lines 29 through 43) and inserting:
/SECTION 12. Except as may otherwise be provided in this act, this act takes effect upon approval by the Governor./
Renumber sections to conform.
Amend totals and title to conform.
Rep. RICHARDSON explained the amendment.
Rep. YOUNG-BRICKELL moved to table the amendment, which was agreed to.
Rep. ROBINSON proposed the following Amendment No. 6A (Doc Name P:\amend\DKA\3794JM.96), which was tabled.
Amend the bill, as and if amended, by striking all after the enacting words and inserting:
/SECTION 1. Section 42-9-30(19) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"(19) For the total loss of use of the back, sixty-six and two-thirds percent of the average weekly wages during three hundred weeks. The compensation for partial loss of use of the back shall must be such those proportions of the periods of payment herein provided in this paragraph for total loss as such the partial loss bears to total loss, except that in cases where there is fifty percent or more loss of use of the back, in which event the injured employee shall be deemed is presumed to have suffered total and permanent disability and must be compensated therefor for this under paragraph two of Section 42-9-10. The presumption of total and
SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor./
Amend title to conform.
Rep. RICHARDSON explained the amendment.
Rep. YOUNG-BRICKELL moved to table the amendment, which was agreed to.
Rep. ROBINSON proposed the following Amendment No. 7A (Doc Name P:\amend\DKA\3796JM.96), which was tabled.
Amend the bill, as and if amended, page 3, by striking SECTION 3 in its entirety and inserting:
/SECTION 3. Section 42-1-310 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 42-1-310. (A) Every employer and employee, except as stated in this chapter, shall be presumed to have accepted the provisions of this title respectively to pay and accept compensation for personal injury or death by accident arising out of and in the course of the employment and shall be bound thereby, unless he shall have given, prior to any accident resulting in injury or death, notice to the contrary in the manner provided in Section 42-1-340, except as provided in subsection (B).
(B) An employer may reject the terms of Title 42 if:
(1) the employer has given, prior to any accident resulting in injury or death, notice in the manner provided in Section 42-1-340; and
(2)(a) the employer shows proof of financial responsibility to the Department of Insurance in the form of an alternative employee benefits insurance plan endorsed by an insurance company that is licensed, an admitted carrier and a participant in the South Carolina Guarantee Association Fund; or
(b) the employer shows proof of financial responsibility by placing on deposit with the Department of Insurance an irrevocable certificate of deposit in the amount of three hundred thousand dollars."/
Amend further by adding an appropriately numbered SECTION to read:
/SECTION __. Chapter 1, Title 42 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:
"Section 42-1-317. (A) An employer rejecting the terms of Title 42 pursuant to Section 42-1-310(B)(2)(a) shall provide minimum coverage for his employees as provided in this section.
(B) For purposes of this section:
(1) `Loss' means with regard to:
(b) sight, the entire and irrecoverable loss thereof; and
(c) the thumb and index finger, actual severance through or above metacarpophalangeal joints.
(2) `Temporary Total Disability' means a nonpermanent physical impairment, resulting from a work-related injury and substantiated by a diagnosis from a physician, which prevents an employee of the insured from performing the duties for which he is employed by the insured.
(3) `Continuous total disability' means the complete, permanent and absolute inability of an employee of the insured to perform the duties of any occupation for which he is qualified by reason of education, training or experience. Such disability must be due to work-related injury and may result from, but is not limited to, the following circumstances:
(a) brain damage, which means the severe neurological damage due to external trauma resulting in complete and irrecoverable loss of brain function;
(b) coma, which means a profound state of unconsciousness from which the employee cannot be aroused even by powerful stimulation; and
(c) paralysis, which means the complete and total inability of the employee to move an entire extremity as the result of neurological damage, as determined by a licensed physician.
(4) `Total Disability' means the complete and continuous inability of the insured person to:
(a) perform all essential acts and duties of his or her regular occupation until the weekly benefit has been paid for one hundred four weeks during the same period of continuous total disability, and thereafter; and
(b) engage in any gainful occupation for which he or she is or can be reasonably fitted by training, education or experience.
(C) The employee benefits insurance plan shall provide for the payment of maximum lump sum benefits for the accidental death of an employee of not less than two hundred twenty-five thousand dollars.
(D)(1) The employee benefits insurance plan shall provide for the payment of maximum lump sum benefits for the accidental dismemberment of an employee as provided below:
(a) for the loss of both hands or both feet or sight of both eyes, not less than two hundred twenty-five thousand dollars;
(b) for the loss of one hand and one foot, not less than two hundred twenty-five thousand
dollars;
(d) for the loss of either hand or foot, not less than one hundred twelve thousand five hundred dollars;
(e) for the loss of sight of one eye, not less than one hundred twelve thousand five hundred dollars; and
(f) for the loss of a thumb and an index finger of the same hand, fifty six thousand two hundred fifty dollars.
(2) Lump sum benefits for dismemberment shall be not more than two hundred twenty-five thousand dollars in the aggregate for the same accident.
(E)(1) The employee benefits insurance plan shall provide for the payment of maximum benefits for medical expenses incurred by the employee for accidental injuries of not less than one million dollars for each accident.
(2) The employee benefits insurance plan shall provide that the payment of maximum benefits for medical expenses shall be increased by not less than five hundred thousand dollars when the employee is diagnosed as either a paraplegic or quadriplegic by a licensed physician.
(F)(1) The employee benefits insurance plan shall provide for the payment of weekly wage replacement benefits for temporary total disability for a maximum period of not less than one hundred four weeks. The plan shall provide that benefits for continuous total disability shall be paid to an insured person when the employer receives due proof that the insured person has been granted a social security disability award for the disability for which payment is sought from the employer.
(2) Weekly benefits under this subsection shall be paid as follows:
(a) a period of not less than seven days after the accident shall elapse before temporary total disability benefits shall be paid;
(b) the weekly total disability indemnity benefit amount shall be offset by the weekly social security disability award for the disability for which payment is sought;
(c) the weekly total disability indemnity benefit amount shall be:
(i) not more than seventy percent of the insured person's gross average weekly earnings, reduced by the primary social security disability award; or
(ii) not more than four hundred fifty dollars; and
(d) the benefit period shall provide for the payment of benefits until the employee reaches the age of sixty-five, provided that an employee who reaches the age of sixty-five but who has received the benefits for a
(G) The employee benefits insurance plan shall provide for the payment of aggregate benefits for all employees injured in the same accident of not less than two million dollars.
(H) The employee benefits insurance plan shall provide that lump sum amounts shall be paid equally to all employees without regard to the wage rate."/
Amend further, page 3, after line 23, by adding an appropriately numbered SECTION to read:
/SECTION __. Sections 42-1-330 and 42-1-340 of the 1976 Code are amended to read:
"Section 42-1-330. (A) Either an An employer or
employee who has exempted himself by proper notice from the operation of this title may at
any
time waive such exemption and thereby accept the provisions of this title by giving notice as
provided in
Section 42-1-340.
(B) This section applies only to an employer who meets the requirements of Section
42-1-310(B).
Section 42-1-340. (A) The notices referred to in Sections 42-1-310 and 42-1-330 shall not be effective as to any accident resulting in injury or death that occurs within thirty days after the giving of any such notice; provided, that if any such accident occurs less than thirty days after the date of employment, notice of such exemption given at the time of employment shall be effective as to such accident. Any such notice shall be in writing or print, in substantially the form prescribed by the commission, and shall be given by the employer by posting it in a conspicuous place in the shop, plant, office, room or place in which the employee is employed or by serving it personally upon him and shall be given by the employee by sending it in registered letter, addressed to the employer at his last-known residence or place of business, or by giving it personally to the employer or any of his agents upon whom summons in a civil action may be served under the laws of the State. Any notice referred to in Section 42-1-310 shall state the basis for the rejection of the terms of Title 42.
A copy of the notice in the prescribed form shall be filed with the commission. In any suit by an employer or an employee who has exempted himself by proper notice from the application of this title a copy of such notice duly certified by the commission shall be admissible in evidence as proof of such exemption.
(B) This section applies only to an employer who meets the requirements of Section 42-1-310(B)."
/SECTION __. Section 42-1-510 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 42-1-510. (A) An employer who elects not to operate under this title shall not, in any suit at law instituted by an employee subject to this title to recover damages for personal injury or death by accident, be permitted to defend any such suit at law upon any or all of the following grounds:
(1) that the employee was negligent;
(2) that the injury was caused by the negligence of a fellow employee; or
(3) that the employee had assumed the risk of the injury.
(B) After June 30, 1997, this section applies only to an employer who meets the requirements of Section 42-1-310(B)."/
Amend further, page 8, by striking SECTION 10 in its entirety.
Amend further, page 8, by striking SECTION 11 in its entirety and inserting:
/SECTION 11. Sections 42-1-520 and 42-1-530 of the 1976 Code are repealed on July 1, 1997./
Amend further, page 8, by striking SECTION 12 in its entirety and inserting:
/SECTION 12. Except as may otherwise be provided in this act, this act takes effect upon approval by the Governor. Employers who have filed with the Workers' Compensation Commission a notice to reject the provisions of Title 42 before the effective date of this act will have until July 1, 1997, to comply with the provisions of this act relating to insuring their workers' compensation liabilities or relating to rejecting the terms of Title 42. Any employer who has rejected the terms of Title 42 prior to approval of this act and has procured another form of employee benefits insurance shall comply, not later than July 1, 1997, with the provisions of this act relating to the insuring of its workers' compensation liabilities or relating to rejecting the provisions of Title 42. Furthermore, nothing in this act shall affect or alter any cause of action, right, or claim accruing before the effective date of this act; however, any such cause of action, remedy, or claim accruing before the effective date of this act shall be governed by the law prior to the effective date of this act./
Renumber sections to conform.
Amend title to conform.
Rep. RICHARDSON explained the amendment.
Rep. RICHARDSON continued speaking.
Rep. CATO spoke against the amendment and moved to table the amendment, which was agreed to.
Rep. DAVENPORT proposed the following Amendment No. 8A (Doc Name P:\amend\PT\2595JM.96), which was tabled.
Amend the bill, as and if amended, by adding an appropriately numbered SECTION to read:
/SECTION . Section 42-1-150 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 42-1-150. The term `employment' includes employment by the State, all political subdivisions thereof, all public and quasi-public corporations therein, and all private employments in which four one or more employees are regularly employed in the same business or establishment."/
Renumber SECTIONS to conform.
Amend title to conform.
Rep. DAVENPORT explained the amendment.
Rep. CATO moved to table the amendment.
Rep. YOUNG-BRICKELL demanded the yeas and nays, which were not ordered.
The amendment was then tabled by a division vote of 48 to 16.
Rep. DAVENPORT proposed the following Amendment No. 9A (Doc Name P:\amend\BBM\10891JM.96), which was tabled.
Amend the bill, as and if amended, by adding appropriately-numbered section to read:
/SECTION . Section 42-15-90 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 42-15-90. Fees for attorneys and physicians and charges of hospitals for services under this title shall be are subject to the approval of the commission; but no physician or hospital shall be entitled to collect fees from an employer or insurance carrier until he, or it, has made the reports required by the commission in connection with the case. Fees for attorneys who represent employers or insurance carriers, for services under this title, are subject to the approval of the commission. Fees for attorneys who represent employees, or their family members, for services under this title, are subject to the approval of the commission, provided that such a fee in this instance is limited to not more than twenty percent
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."/
Renumber sections to conform.
Amend title to conform.
Rep. DAVENPORT moved to table the amendment, which was agreed to.
Rep. DAVENPORT proposed the following Amendment No. 12A (Doc Name P:\amend\BBM\10898JM.96), which was tabled.
Amend the bill, as and if amended, page 9, line 2, by striking /1997/ and inserting /1998/.
Amend further, page 9, by striking lines 4 through 18, and inserting:
/SECTION 12. Except as may otherwise be provided in this act, this act takes effect upon approval by the Governor; provided, that any employer, regardless of its status with respect to being subject, or not being subject, to Title 42 of the 1976 Code of Laws, may file a notice with the Workers' Compensation Commission by July 1, 1997, which notice reserves the right to give notice at a later date either to become subject to Title 42 or to reject the provisions of Title 42./
Amend title to conform.
Rep. DAVENPORT moved to table the amendment, which was agreed to.
Rep. DAVENPORT proposed the following Amendment No. 13A (Doc Name P:\amend\PT\2596JM.96), which was tabled.
Amend the bill, as and if amended, page 9, line 2, by striking /1997/ and inserting:
/1999/.
Amend further, page 9, by striking lines 4 through 18, and inserting:
/SECTION 12. Except as may otherwise be provided in this act, this act takes effect upon approval by the Governor; provided, that any
Amend title to conform.
Rep. DAVENPORT explained the amendment.
Rep. RICHARDSON spoke in favor of the amendment.
Rep. CATO spoke against the amendment.
Rep. LITTLEJOHN spoke in favor of the amendment.
Rep. YOUNG-BRICKELL moved to table the amendment.
Rep. DAVENPORT demanded the yeas and nays, which were taken resulting as follows:
Those who voted in the affirmative are:
Anderson Askins Bailey Baxley Beck Brown, G. Brown, H. Brown, J. Byrd Cain Carnell Cato Clyburn Cobb-Hunter Cooper Cotty Dantzler Delleney Fulmer Gamble Govan Harrell Harris, J. Harris, P. Harvin Hines, J. Hines, M. Hodges Inabinett Keegan Kelley Keyserling Kinon Law Lee Lloyd McAbee McCraw McElveen McMahand Neal Quinn Sandifer Sharpe Sheheen Shissias Smith, R. Spearman Stuart Townsend Trotter Waldrop Whatley Whipper, L. Whipper, S. Wilder Wilkes Williams Wofford Young Young-Brickell
Allison Davenport Easterday Fleming Hallman Howard Jaskwhich Kirsh Knotts Koon Lanford Limbaugh Limehouse Littlejohn Loftis Mason Meacham Neilson Phillips Rhoad Rice Richardson Riser Robinson Seithel Simrill Smith, D. Stille Stoddard Tripp Vaughn Wells Wright
So, the amendment was tabled.
Printed Page 4650, May 30
| Printed Page 4670, May 30
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