The bill amends existing law in RCW 51.14.130 and RCW 51.32.190 to impose specific procedures and deadlines on self-insurers handling workers’ compensation claims. A self-insurer that allows a claim must issue an allowance order within 30 days of notice and that allowance order may not include other claim decisions. If a self-insurer denies a claim it must request denial within 60 days of notice and must give written notice with reasons to the claimant and the director within 60 days. If a self-insurer fails to act in the required timeframes, the bill requires the matter to be forwarded to the department and directs the department to promptly determine whether the claim is allowed or denied. The bill also states that acceptance or payment of compensation before a department order is entered is not binding on rights or future obligations. The bill adds payment and reporting requirements: where temporary disability compensation is payable the first payment must be made within 14 days after notice of claim and continue at semimonthly or biweekly intervals, the self-insurer must immediately notify the director upon making the first income benefit payment using a director-prescribed form, and must submit records of payments upon department request. The director is authorized to inquire, order medical examinations, hold hearings, require further information, and make orders, decisions, or awards when payments are being made without an award, and may adopt rules to ensure fair and prompt handling by self-insurers. Affected parties named in the text include self-insurers, the department, the director, workers/claimants, and beneficiaries. The bill is identified as S-3632.1 / Senate Bill 5997, 69th Legislature, 2026 Regular Session (prefiled 01/05/26). The text provided does not define the terms “department,” “director,” “self-insurer,” “provisional status,” or “provisional time loss,” and one timing provision is ambiguous about whether the forwarding requirement occurs at 60 days, no later than 65 days from filing, or both; those points are unclear from the extracted text.

Self-insured employers and their claims units will likely have to make faster decisions or pay provisional benefits sooner, because claims they don’t allow or deny within the new short windows must be passed to the state and provisional time-loss paid if the worker qualifies. That will increase administrative tasks (immediate notifications and record submissions to the director) and could raise short-term cash costs and legal risk for self-insurers who miss deadlines, while more claims will be decided by the department instead of the employer. Workers and claimants should see quicker provisional payments and a faster route to a department decision when insurers delay, and the Department of Labor and Industries (the department/director referenced) will likely need to handle more adjudications and oversight. Key details remain unclear here—who exactly counts as the “department” or “director,” how “self-insurer” or “provisional” terms are defined, and one timing phrase mixes 60 and 65 days—so the exact operational impact could change once those points are clarified.