Employer reporting, physician assistant comp bills filed in Oregon

Oregon legislators have introduced bills to require timely reporting of injuries by employers and to permit physician assistants to treat injured workers in comp cases.

House Bill 3467, filed Tuesday, would require employers to report to their insurers any workplace injuries that may result in the filing of workers comp claims within five days after the employer becomes aware of the injury. Failure to do so could result in employers having to reimburse insurers for any penalties related to the delay.

There would be a reporting exception in cases where workers require no medical treatment or if they only require onsite first aid that does not result in further evaluation.

House Bill 3412, also filed Tuesday, would add physician assistants to the list of medical professionals who are permitted to treat injured employees in workers compensation cases.

Both bills were introduced on first reading Tuesday and then sent to the desk of the House speaker for further action.