Wednesday, December 31, 2003

Supreme Court to Review Timely Filing of Petition to Review Utilization Review Determination

The Supreme Court granted the Employer's Petition For Allowance of Appeal in Gallie v. WCAB (Fichtel & Sachs Industries). The case allowed a Claimant to file a Petition to Review Utilization Review Determination more than thirty days after the Claimant received the initial utilization review determination, because the WCJ observed the Bureau had received the initial determination less than thirty days before the date the Claimant filed.

I noted in my September 11, 2003 post on this case that application of this rule might be a challenge. The Bureau's CIMS database does not record the date of receipt of the initial determination, because it is not a filing. The date of the Bureau's receipt can only be determined from the date stamp on the copy of the initial determination that is sent to the WCJ, provided the stamp is legible.

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