An Act To Amend the Maine Workers' Compensation Act of 1 ~92
Maine Legislature, Session 126, LD 0001
Committee Amendment CA_A_S31 (Senate)
Amends: 39-A MRSA §312

COMMITTEE AMENDMENT" A "to S.P. 9, L.D. 1, Bill, "An Act To Amend the 
Maine Workers' Compensation Act of 1 ~92" 
Amend the bill in section 2 in paragraph A in the 4th line (page 1, line 22 in L.D.) by 
inserting after the following: "dependent" the following: 'in any way' 
Amend the bill in section 5 in subsection 4 in the 2nd and 3rd lines (page 1, lines 38 
and 39 in LD.) by striking out the following: "The board's ruling under this subsection is 
final and is not subject to judicial review." and inserting the following: 'A ruling by the 
board or hearing officer under this section is final and not subject to review by the 
Superior Court.' 
Amend the bill by inserting after section 8 the following: 
'Sec. 9. 39-A MRSA §312, sub-§l, as amended by PL 2011, c. 215, §1, is further 
amended to read: 
1. 
Examiner system. The board shall develop and implement an independent 
medical examiner system consistent with the requirements of this section. As pmi of this 
system, the board shall, in the exercise of its discretion, create, maintain and periodically 
validate a list of not more than 50 health care providers that it finds to be the most 
qualified and to be highly experienced and competent in their specific fields of expertise 
and in the treatment of work-related injuries to serve as independent medical examiners 
from each of the health care specialties that the board finds most commonly used by 
injured employees. An independent medical examiner must be certified in the field of 
practice that treats the type of injury complained of by the employee. Certification mast 
be by a board recognized by the American Board of Medical Specialties or the lLmerican 
Osteopathic Association or their successor organizations. For an independent medical 
examiner who is a doctor of chiropractic, certification must be by a board recognized by 
the American Chiropractic Association or its successor organization. For an independent 
medical examiner who is a doctor of podiatric medicine, certification must be by a board 
recognized by the American Podiatric Medical Association or its successor organization. 
For an independent medical examiner who is a psychologist, licensure by the State Board 
of Examiners of Psychologists satisfies the celiification requirement of this section. For 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
..... 
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COMMITTEE AMENDMENT" A" to S.P. 9, LD, 1 
all other medical examiners, certification must be by a board recognized by the American 
Board of Medical Specialties or the American Osteopathic Association or their successor 
organizations. 
The board shall establish a fee schedule for services rendered by 
independent medical examiners and adopt any rules considered necessary to effectuate 
the purposes of this section.' 
Amend the bill by relettering or renumbering any nonconsecutive Part letter or 
section number to read consecutively. 
SUMMARY 
This amendment clarifies that a spouse who is dependent in any way on the injured 
employee at the time of injury is included in the definition of "dependent" under the 
workers' compensation law. This maintains the same standard that is currently in statute. 
This amendment also make~ clear that the Workers' Compensation Board's ruling in a 
predetermination hearing is not subject to review by the Superior Court. Additionally, 
this amendment expands the certification requirements for independent medical 
examiners to include the certifications relevant to chiropractors, podiatrists and 
psychologists. 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT