Industrial Commission Refiles Rules
The Industrial Commission proposed amendments to rules 4121-3-09 (Conduct of Hearings Before the Commission and its Staff and District Hearing Officers); 4121-3-13 (Disputed Self-Insuring Employer’s Claims); 4121-3-15 (Percentage of Permanent Partial Disability); 4121-3-32 (Temporary Total Disability); and 4121-3-34 (Permanent Total Disability).
After a public rule hearing, the Commission withdrew the rules. The Commission changed two proposed rules and re-filed the rules on October 9, 2003.
The initial amendment to 4121-3-13 (Disputed Self-Insuring Employer’s Claims) permitted the Commission to request specific claims information from a self-insured employer. The amended rule now has no such provision.
The initial amendment to 4121-3-34 (Permanent Total Disability) explicitly barred rebuttal medical evidence after the time limit for filing medical evidence. The amended rule takes out this restriction, but retains the requirement that only evidence which is “newly discovered”, “relevant”, could not have been previously obtained by “due diligence” and is approved by the hearing administrator may be filed after the time limit.