AGO 1951-53 No. 29.
Case Date | April 30, 1951 |
Court | Washington |
Washington Attorney General Opinions
1951.
AGO 1951-53 No. 29.
April 30,
1951[Orig. Op. Page 1]PRIVATEINDUSTRIAL
INSURANCE --- MEDICAL AID --- EMPLOYMENT OF PHYSICIAN AND SURGEON ---
SALARY.The Department of Labor and Industries
may employ a physician and surgeon to assist in administering medical aid, and
such physician and surgeon may be paid from the medical aid fund.Honorable A. M. Johnson,
DirectorDepartment of Labor and
IndustriesOlympia, WashingtonCite as:
AGO 1951-53 No. 29Attention: John Shaughnessy
Dear Sir:
In your letter of April 20, 1951, you requested our opinion on
the following question:
May a physician and surgeon be employed by the department of
labor and industries to assist in administering the medical aid provisions of
the act as required by statute, and may such physician and surgeon be paid from
the medical aid fund?
Our conclusion may be summarized as follows:
The Department of Labor and Industries may employ a physician and
surgeon to assist in administering medical aid, and such physician and surgeon
may be paid from the medical aid fund.
ANALYSIS
Prior to 1921 the state medical aid board was charged with the
duty of administering medical aid. Its duties were prescribed in Rem. Rev.
Stat. § 7715:
[Orig. Op. Page 2]
"A board is hereby created to be known as the state medical aid
board, hereinafter designated as the state board, which shall have power and
whose duty it shall be to from time to time establish and promulgate printed
forms, rules, regulations and practices for the furnishing of such care,
treatment and services to workmen. * * *"
In 1921 the legislature abolished the state medical aid board by
Rem. Rev. Stat. § 10893, which provides:
"From and after the thirty-first day of March, 1921, the
following offices, boards, commissions, bureaus, and departments of the state
government heretofore created by law shall be and are hereby abolished, viz.: *
* * the medical aid board * * *"
and the duties theretofore performed by the state medical aid
board devolved upon the director of labor and industries by Rem. Rev. Stat.
§ 10836, which provides:
"The director of labor and industries shall have the power, and
it shall be his duty, through and by means of the division of industrial
insurance:
"* * *
"(2) To exercise all the powers and perform all the duties now
vested in, and required to be performed...
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