I bring to your attention today a topic so exciting, so thrilling, so prone to make the hair stand up on the back of your neck, that I almost thought it appropriate to get a rating on this blog post before publishing it.

Gregory Grinberg

It’s not about cool ninja krav maga fighting at the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board. It’s not about a worker who claimed an injury after he was bitten by a radioactive spider but was then photographed fighting crime while technically on TD. It’s about new EAMS regulations proposed by the WCAB. 

Search your souls, dear readers: Is that not the most exciting news ever?

Some of the changes are relatively minor: Insurance companies will receive UANs much like claims administrators and attorneys. The proposed regulations codify electronic or digital signatures as well as scanned handwritten signatures and eliminate Section 10205.6, which allowed parties to designate their preferred method of service, which is appropriate, as accepting service by email is not optional anymore (see 8 CCR Section 10625(b)(2).)

The big takeaway for immediate action is that since there are some insurance companies that are distinct entities from the claims administrators already registered with the EAMS system, they should do so promptly once the new regulations are approved and implemented. The way to do so is to contact the Central Registration Unit via email at CRU@dir.ca.gov and provide the insurance company’s name, address, telephone number and email address. 

So, dear readers, follow me as we take yet another step forward into the future and shift from paper to electronic everything.

Gregory Grinberg is managing partner of Gale, Sutow & Associates’ S.F. Bay South office and a certified specialist in workers’ compensation law. This post is reprinted with permission from Grinberg’s WCDefenseCA blog.