Illinois lawmakers in both houses on Friday passed an omnibus labor bill that would provide death benefits for first responders who were presumably infected with COVID-19 on duty and workers compensation benefits for essential workers under certain conditions. H.B. 2455 also revises state code to expand unemployment benefits and enhance sick pay and leave for workers who contract the virus….
States with no workers compensation fee schedule pay higher prices for professional services, though prices vary significantly across the U.S., according to researchers from the Workers Compensation Research Institute’s medical price index study released Tuesday. The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based institute evaluated prices paid in workers compensation for professional services billed by physicians, physical therapists and chiropractors in 36 study states between…
The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued revised enforcement guidance to help employers evaluate whether a workplace case of COVID-19 is recordable. While the guidance, released Tuesday for OSHA regional administrators and OSHA-approved State Plans, does not remove an employer’s requirement to evaluate any positive cases of coronavirus reported by employees for work-relatedness, it does provide examples to help…
Indiana’s safety agency prematurely released Amazon from citations and fines in the death of a warehouse employee who was crushed by a forklift, a federal investigation has found. Indiana Occupational Safety and Health Administration absolved the online retailer of any accountability in the death of 59-year-old Phillip Lee Terry coincidentally at the same time the state was bidding for Amazon’s…
Outpatient hospital payments are higher and growing at a faster rate in states without fee schedules, according to a study released Tuesday from the Workers Compensation Research Institute. Researchers at the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based WCRI compared hospital payments from a group of common workers comp outpatient surgeries in 36 states from 2005 to 2018, finding that states that paid a percentage…
Businesses are urging U.S. lawmakers to shield companies from what they fear could be a flood of lawsuits by workers and consumers blaming employers for exposing them to the new coronavirus. But so far, court records show few such cases have been filed and some legal experts say the threat of liability is exaggerated because of the difficulty of proving…
Some employees diagnosed with COVID-19 will automatically qualify for worker’s comp, regardless of how they contracted the virus. UPDATE: On April 23, a judge in Sangamon County, Illinois issued a Temporary Restraining Order blocking the Workers’ Compensation Commission’s Emergency Rule from going into effect. On April 27, the Commission filed notice that it will formally withdraw the emergency rule that…
The National Council for Compensation Insurance on Friday launched an online tool designed to help states and employers calculate the impact COVID-19 could have on workers compensation. The tool allows users to adjust variables such as job classifications and infection rates to model the potential impact on expected losses for a jurisdiction and workforce, according to Boca Raton, Florida-based NCCI….
The Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission on Monday repealed a controversial emergency rule stating that if front-line workers are infected with COVID-19, it would be presumed to be a result of their work duties. A Sangamon County judge last week issued a temporary restraining order blocking the new rule, which would have granted benefits to workers deemed essential who contracted the…
An Illinois judge issued a temporary restraining order that halts workers compensation expansions for employees who acquire COVID-19 from taking effect in the state. Judge John Madonia of the Sangamon County Circuit Court issued the order by telephone conference Thursday afternoon. The Illinois Manufacturers Association and Illinois Retail Merchants Association filed a lawsuit Wednesday, alleging that the Illinois Workers Compensation…
