Colorado § 8-43-205 - Mediation.

§ 8-43-205. Mediation.

(1) Any party involved in a claim arising under articles 40 to 47 of this title may request mediation services by filing a request for mediation services with the division. However, mediation shall be entirely voluntary and shall not be conducted without the consent of all parties to the claim. If a request for mediation services is made after an application for a hearing has been filed, the administrative law judge hearing the dispute shall approve, on motion of the parties, the submission of the dispute to mediation prior to hearing the matter. An application for mediation services shall be filed on a form prescribed by the director. Upon receiving the application for mediation services, the director shall cause a mediation conference to occur within thirty days thereafter. At a mediation conference, the claimant may be represented by the claimant, counsel, or any other agent of the claimant's choice. Mediators need not be attorneys.

(2) Mediation proceedings conducted pursuant to this section shall be considered to be settlement negotiations and are confidential. No admission, representation, or statement made in the course of such mediation proceedings that is not otherwise subject to discovery or otherwise obtainable under the procedures established in articles 40 to 47 of this title shall be admissible as evidence or subject to discovery under said articles. No mediator who participates in mediation proceedings conducted pursuant to this section shall be compelled or permitted to testify about any matter discussed or revealed during such proceedings in any other proceeding under articles 40 to 47 of this title.

(3) The division shall develop a program to implement the provisions of this section. Such program shall be a simple, nonadversarial method for the mediation of disputes arising under articles 40 to 47 of this title. Such program shall provide for the use of neutral mediators and the conduct of proceedings in an informal setting. The director shall adopt rules and regulations to implement such program.

Source: L. 90: Entire article R&RE, p. 502, § 1, effective July 1. L. 91: (1) amended, p. 1316, § 25, effective July 1. L. 94: (1) amended, p. 1874, § 3, effective June 1.

Editor's note: This section is similar to former § 8-53-105.5 as it existed prior to 1990.

ANNOTATION

In workers' compensation proceedings, "authorization" refers to the treating physician's status as the health care provider legally authorized to treat an injured worker rather than the particular medical treatment or procedure recommended by the authorized treating physician. One Hour Cleaners v. Indus. Claim Appeals Office, 914 P.2d 501 (Colo. App. 1995).