No Quick Savings From Comp Bill: Garamendi

However, he noted that Mr. Garamendi "cautions that the savings will take some time to materialize. There are aspects of this legislation that mean it is not self implementing." Mr. Williams noted there are provisions in the bill that do not become effective for two years.

The California Assembly voted 77-3 to approve the measure and the Senate followed with a 33-3 vote in favor.

Language for the bill was approved yesterday about 3:30 a.m. by a Senate-Assembly conference committee, the legislation had support from the Senate and Assembly leadership of both parties.

"From what we understand the governor will sign the bill on Monday," said Mr. Williams.

Mr. Garamendi said in a statement yesterday that insurers "must not be allowed to exploit technicalities that would result in savings going toward their profits instead of to employers. I am offering my assistance to the Committee in its efforts to craft effective language and address the concerns that its members have about getting the savings to employers."

According to Sam Sorich, president of the Association of California Insurance Companies, among the "concepts' contained in the legislation, are the use of American Medical Association guidelines to evaluate injury, and reductions in disability benefits for injured workers' whose employers offered a return-to-work program.

The bill, he said, would call for treatment of injured workers through an employer-provided physician network, giving the worker a right to appeal the selection after treatment by three network physicians.

Employers would be required to provide immediate treatment for employees who claimed a job injury, who would not have to wait for an investigation of their claim. Mr. Sorich said he understood that a cap on the amount was a possibility.

According to Mr. Sorich, the current system of rate regulation will be kept, which basically confines any regulatory disapproval of rates to those that are financially inadequate or discriminatory.

According to published reports, the way was cleared for the bill when Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, D-Los Angeles, met with Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and dropped a demand for controls on rates.

In the event legislation was not approved, Gov. Schwarzenegger and business interests had mounted a signature campaign to secure a ballot initiative and obtain changes he wanted for the workers' comp system

The measure has not pleased labor representatives. Nathan Ballard, a spokesman for the California Labor Federation, told the Los Angeles Times that "The deck was stacked against injured workers from the beginning."

Business advocates have pushed for the measure as one needed to keep companies from leaving the state to escape costs that they see as crushing.