DWC issues 15 day public comment period for Medical Treatment Utilization Schedule regulatory update

NEWSLINE

The Division of Workers' Compensation (DWC) has issued a 15-day notice of public comment period beginning on October 13, 2025, for modifying the text of proposed amendments to the Medical Treatment Utilization regulations. The affected regulations are Title 8, California Code of Regulations, section 9792.24.5.

The changes proposed in the modified regulations include the following:

• Update to Traumatic Brain Injury Guideline as found in regulation section 9792.24.5.
• Amended Section 9797.24.5 to reference the updated Traumatic Brain Injury Guideline dated October 7, 2025 and remove reference to the Guideline dated June 26, 2025.

The section in this Guideline that was amended from the June 26, 2025 version to the October 7, 2025 version is on page 199 of the Traumatic Brain Injury Guideline under Compensatory Skills Training for Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and provides the following update:

• Previous: "Frequency/Dose/Duration: STEP program is 9 hours per week for 12 weeks."
• New: "Frequency/Dose/Duration: The Short-Term Executive Plus (STEP) cognitive rehabilitation program consists of 12 weeks (9 hours/week) of group training in problem solving and emotional regulation and individual sessions of attention and compensatory strategies training (Cantor et al., 2014)."

DWC will consider all public comments. The 15-day notice of modification to the text of the modified guideline can be found on DWC's rulemaking page.

Written comments should be addressed to:
Maureen Gray, regulations coordinator
Department of Industrial Relations
Division of Workers' Compensation
1515 Clay Street, 18th floor
Oakland, CA 94612

The Division's contact person must receive all written comments concerning the proposed modification to the regulations no later than 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday, October 28, 2025. Written comments addressed to the contract person may be submitted by facsimile transmission (FAX) at (510) 286-0687. Written comments may also be sent electronically (via e-mail), using the following e-mail address: [email protected].