PURSUANT TO THE PROVISIONS OF THE State Administrative Procedure Act, NOTICE is hereby given of the following proposed rule:
Proposed Action:
This is a consensus rule making to amend section 348.1 of Title 12 NYCRR.
Statutory authority:
Workers' Compensation Law, sections 13(a), 13-l and 117(a)
Subject:
Chiropractic Fee Schedule.
Purpose:
To conform section 348.1 to the amendment of section 348.2 for the adoption of a new Chiropractic Fee Schedule effective December 1, 2010.
Text of proposed rule:
[This chiropractic fee schedule is applicable to chiropractic services rendered on or after October 1, 1997, regardless of the date of accident.] The fee schedule applicable to chiropractic services [rendered on a date prior to October 1, 1997] shall be the chiropractic fee schedule in effect on the date on which the chiropractic services were rendered, regardless of the date of accident.
Text of proposed rule and any required statements and analyses may be obtained from:
Cheryl M Wood, Esq., NYS Workers' Compensation Board, 20 Park Street, Room 400, Albany, New York 12207, (518) 408-0469, email: regulations@wcb.state.ny.us
Data, views or arguments may be submitted to:
Same as above.
Public comment will be received until:
45 days after publication of this notice.
Consensus Rule Making Determination
The NYS Workers’ Compensation Board is proposing to amend Section 348.1 of the Title 12 NYCRR to eliminate the reference to an October 1, 1997, effective date for the chiropractic fee schedule, as a new fee schedule was adopted in a regulation effective for services provided on and after December 1, 2010. In a proposed rule making published on September 22, 2010, the Chair amended Section 348.2 to adopt a new Official New York Workers’ Compensation Chiropractic Fee Schedule, updated December 1, 2010. The Notice of Adoption was published in the November 24, 2010, State Register and the new Chiropractic Fee Schedule will be effective for services rendered on and after December 1, 2010. However, Section 348.1 was inadvertently not amended to remove the reference to an October 1, 1997, effective date. In fact, Section 348.1 should have been amended so there was no need to reference any date, the same as similar sections for the other fee schedules had already been amended in 2008. It is not likely that anyone will object to the rule as written, as it eliminates confusion over the effective date of the new Chiropractic Fee Schedule and eliminates the conflict between Sections 348.1 and 348.2. Further, it is not legal for a fee schedule adopted in a rule that is not effective until December 1, 2010, to be effective for services rendered before that date. Therefore, there are no legal grounds for an objection to this rule.
Job Impact Statement
The proposed amendments are technical in nature to eliminate confusion and conflict with the recent amendment to Section 348.2. The changes eliminate reference to the effective date of the previous Chiropractic Fee Schedule and conforms the section so it is the same as the sections regarding the effective date for the other fee schedule. Specifically, the Chair has adopted a new Chiropractic Fee schedule to be effective for services rendered on and after December 1, 2010. However, Section 348.1 refers to a fee schedule in effect on October 1, 1997. In order to eliminate confusion and any conflicts between Sections 348.1 and 348.2, Section 348.1 has to be amended to eliminate October 1, 1997. This change will not have any impact on jobs, so it will not have an adverse impact.
