When the Legislature amends a law to make substantive changes does it impliedly, without stating an intent, amend that law to change the time within which suit must be instituted under the amended act? That was the question before the Appellate Division in the case of Plastic Surgery Center v. Malouf Chevrolet-Cadillac, Inc., 457 N.J. Super. 565 (App. Div. 2019), in a Workers’ Compensation Act context.

In 2012, the Legislature amended N.J.S.A.34:15-15 to provide the Division of Workers’ Compensation with exclusive jurisdiction to decide medical provider claims for payment of services rendered to injured employees. Prior to 2012, health-care providers were entitled to file their actions for such services in the Superior Court. If, however, the employee filed a workers’ compensation action, there was an obligatory transfer of their suit to the division for the purpose “of handling claims efficiently and avoiding duplication of effort.”