(a) Each patient in a State Department of State Hospital facility shall be entitled to the workers’ compensation benefits provided by this division for injury arising out of and in the course of a vocational rehabilitation program work assignment, including a sheltered workshop work assignment, and for the death of the patient if the injury proximately causes death, subject to all of the following conditions:
(1) The patient was not injured as the result of an assault in which the patient was the initial aggressor, or as the result of the intentional act of the patient injuring themselves.
(2) The patient shall not be entitled to any temporary disability indemnity benefits while committed in a state hospital facility or reincarcerated in a city or county jail or state penal or correctional institution.
(3) Benefits shall not be paid to a patient while the patient is committed in a state hospital facility. The period of benefit payment shall instead commence upon release from a state hospital. If a patient who has been released from a state hospital facility, and has been receiving benefits under this section, is recommitted to a state hospital facility, a jail-based competency treatment program, an Admission, Evaluation, and Stabilization (AES) Center, or any other program considered to be a facility of the State Department of State Hospitals under Section 4100 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, or if the patient is reincarcerated in a city or county jail or state penal or correctional institution, the benefits shall cease immediately upon the patient’s recommitment or reincarceration and shall not be paid for the duration of the recommitment or reincarceration.
(4) This section shall not be construed to provide for the payment to a patient, upon release from a state hospital facility, a jail-based competency treatment program, an Admission, Evaluation, and Stabilization (AES) Center, or any other program considered to be a facility of the State Department of State Hospitals under Section 4100 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, or upon release from incarceration, of temporary disability benefits that were not paid due to the prohibition of paragraph (2).
(5) In determining temporary and permanent disability indemnity benefits for the patient, the average weekly earnings shall be taken at not more than the minimum amount set forth in Section 4453.
(6) If a dispute exists respecting a patient’s rights to the workers’ compensation benefits provided herein, the patient may file an application with the workers’ compensation appeals board to resolve the dispute. The application may be filed at any time during the patient’s commitment at a state hospital facility.
(7) After release or discharge from a state hospital facility, the former patient shall have one year in which to file an original application with the workers’ compensation appeals board, unless the time of injury is such that it would allow more time under Section 5804.
(8) The percentage of disability to total disability shall be determined as for the occupation of a laborer of like age by applying the schedule for the determination of the percentages of permanent disabilities prepared and adopted by the administrative director.
(9) This division shall be the exclusive remedy against the state for injuries occurring while engaged in a vocational rehabilitation program. Nothing in this division shall affect any other right or remedy of an injured patient resulting from injuries not compensated by this division.
(b) The State Department of State Hospitals shall present to each patient worker, prior to their first vocational rehabilitation assignment, a printed statement of their rights under this division, and a description of procedures to be followed in filing for benefits under this section. The statement shall be approved by the Director of State Hospitals or their designee and shall be posted in various conspicuous locations where patients work or reside.
(c) Notwithstanding any other provision of this division, the State Department of State Hospitals shall provide medical care for its patients, which may include medical services at an outside facility.
(d) (1) Paragraphs (2), (3), and (4) of subdivision (a) shall also be applicable to a patient who would otherwise be entitled to receive workers’ compensation benefits based on an injury sustained prior to their commitment to a state hospital facility. However, temporary and permanent disability benefits which, except for this subdivision, would otherwise be payable to a patient based on an injury sustained prior to commitment to a state hospital facility, a jail-based competency treatment program, an Admission, Evaluation, and Stabilization (AES) Center, or any other program considered to be a facility of the State Department of State Hospitals under Section 4100 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, shall be paid to the dependents of the patient. If the patient has no dependents, the temporary disability benefits which, except for this subdivision, would otherwise be payable during the patient’s commitment shall be paid to the State Treasury to the credit of the Uninsured Employers Benefits Trust Fund, and the permanent disability benefits that would otherwise be payable during the patient’s commitment shall be held in trust for the patient by the State Department of State Hospitals during the period of commitment.
(2) For purposes of this subdivision, “dependents” means the patient’s spouse or children, including a patient’s former spouse due to divorce and the patient’s children from that marriage.
(e) Notwithstanding any other provision of this division, a patient who is an employee, as defined in subdivision (h) of Section 3351, is eligible for supplemental job displacement benefits as defined in Section 4658.7.
(Added by Stats. 2019, Ch. 38, Sec. 34. (SB 78) Effective June 27, 2019.)