A Third-Party Administrator (TPA) has one relatively straightforward job: to handle injured workers’ claims on behalf of an employer or insurer.

Accelerated Claims Services, Inc. is failing miserably at this job and routinely violating California law in the process.

Accelerated has never accepted electronic bills (e-bills) from providers treating injured workers, in direct violation of Labor Code (LAB) Section 4603.4 and California Code of Regulations (CCR) Section 9792.5.1. While daisyBill waits (interminably) for the state to address this illegality, we fax our clients’ bills to Accelerated.

Recently, however, a daisyBill provider reported that Accelerated stopped accepting faxed bills. When daisyBill agents contacted the TPA, an Accelerated representative confirmed that Accelerated only accepts bills the old-fashioned way: by snail mail.

In California, workers' comp laws and regulations governing providers are stringent and strictly enforced. For payers, the system is permissive to the point of effective lawlessness.

e-Bill Acceptance: Law of the Land Since 2012

In 2012, California passed Senate Bill 863, which overhauled workers' comp in several ways. Among other changes, the bill amended California LAB § 4603.4 to empower the California Division of Workers’ Compensation (CA DWC) to (emphases ours):

“Require acceptance by employers of electronic claims for payment of medical services.”

Accordingly, the CA DWC’s Medical Billing and Payment Guide explicitly requires payers to accept and properly respond to e-bills, with further instructions in the CA DWC’s Electronic Medical Billing and Payment Companion Guide, both of which the CA DWC incorporates by reference into CCR § 9792.5.1.

Bottom line: when a provider submits a compliant e-bill for an injured worker’s care, the payer must, in all cases:

• Acknowledge receipt within two business days
• Return payment and an electronic Explanation of Review within 15 business days

There are no exceptions to these requirements, no matter how stunningly outdated or incapable a TPA might be. For a TPA, accepting e-bills is simply performing its basic function in 2025.

Yet when daisyBill contacted Accelerated, their representative confirmed their continued refusal to follow the law and accept e-bills. Accelerated further informed us that (emphases ours):

“We don’t let people submit bills via fax. You could just send it to our street address…”

Accelerated’s EDI “Grade”: A Perfect Zero

Above is the Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) “Grade” daisyBill’s Claims Administrator and Network Directory assigned to Accelerated based on how it handles providers’ e-bills.

EDI refers to the digital exchange of electronic bills, documents, and other required files necessary for e-billing. Of course, in this case, Accelerated chooses not to handle providers’ e-bills at all, leaving us no data from which to evaluate this errant TPA’s non-performance.

As such, Accelerated joins a very small number of payers with an EDI Grade of ‘F’ based on literally 0% compliance.

Accelerated has no excuse. This TPA receives a tiny number of workers’ comp bills (just 50 in the last year from daisyBill), but that does not exempt Accelerated from state law.

Accelerated can count itself lucky to be operating in California, where the CA DWC tacitly allows and arguably incentivizes non-compliance with state laws and the agency’s own regulations. If California actually enforced payers’ workers’ comp requirements, Accelerated would be out of business.

Instead, providers bear the cost of this TPA’s refusal to play by the long-established rules.

daisyBill makes workers’ comp billing simple. Click below to see how our e-billing software saves time and money:

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