Roberto Ceniceros, businessinsurance.com
24-visit cap on chiropractic treatments for workers compensation injuries is constitutional, California state appeals court ruled Monday.
The constitutional challenge to the limit on chiropractic treatments implemented as part of California’s 2003 workers comp reforms came in the case of Jose Facundo-Guerrero vs. Workers Compensation Appeals Board, Nurserymen’s Exchange et al.
Mr. Facundo-Guerrero received 76 chiropractic treatments for an undisclosed injury while working for Nurserymen’s, which was insured by Argonaut Insurance Co., court records show. The Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board determined he was entitled to benefits for only 24 of the treatments.
Mr. Facundo-Guerrero sought reconsideration on constitutional grounds, but the WCAB said it lacked authority on constitutional matters, so the appeals court agreed to hear the case.
Among other arguments Mr. Facundo-Guerrero claimed the cap violates a constitutional mandate for a workers comp system that fully treats injuries. He also argued that giving employers sole authority to approve benefits for more than 24 chiropractic visits denied him due process.
The appeals court upheld the WCAB’s decision finding that the state’s legislature had the authority to address a workers comp crisis the state faced in 2003 by placing limits on chiropractic visits, among other things.