Tag: Workers Comp

Illinois lawmakers on Monday introduced workers compensation bills that would affect compensability on cumulative trauma and work travel.

H.B. 1543 would determine that an injury arose out of and in the course of employment only if the accident “significantly caused or contributed to both the resulting condition and disability.”

The bill doesn’t define “significantly caused,” so it’s not clear how that would compare to other causation standards such as major contributing cause, proximate cause and predominant cause.

Case law says only that workers must prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the work incident or duties were a causative factor in an injury. That bill would limit coverage for cumulative trauma, prohibiting coverage for “ordinary, gradual deterioration or progressive degeneration of the body caused by aging or normal activities of living.”

It would also create a situation in which former employers could be liable for a cumulative trauma claim. If the duration of the repetitive or cumulative trauma is fewer than three months and there is evidence that “exposure to the repetitive or cumulative trauma with the immediate prior employer significantly caused or contributed to both the resulting medical condition and the disability, the prior employer shall be liable for the injury.”

Finally, the bill would declare that injuries, causation and disability must all be established “to a reasonable degree of medical certainty, based on objective relevant medical evidence.”

H.B. 1545 would codify when injuries sustained while traveling to or from work are compensable, declaring that a traveling worker’s injury arises from employment if the person is required to travel and, at the time of injury, was engaged in acts the employer instructed to perform, acts the worker has a duty to perform or acts the worker could be expected to perform.

The bill would expressly prohibit coverage when an accident is sustained while commuting to or from home and the place of employment, while running a personal errand or when the injury resulted from a personal risk.

WorkCompCentral is a sister publication of Business Insurance. More stories here.

 

Lawmakers in New York will for a second year consider making Lyme disease an occupational illness under workers compensation.

S.B. 3117, introduced Friday, states that Lyme disease and other tick-borne diseases would also be considered under disability if the worker is presumed to have caught the disease in the scope of employment.

Under the bill, workers that would qualify include those working in “(a)ny process involving outdoor activity or treatment of animals.” Lyme disease is typically compensable in most states if the worker can prove they contracted the illness at work. Workers compensation experts have said that the industry’s experience with claims is very limited.

A similar bill failed to gain traction in 2022. The latest was referred to a labor committee. 

 

 

The number of times a commercial vehicle driver tested positive for drugs increased in 2022, with positive marijuana tests making up the bulk of the increase, according to a federal transportation survey.

Commercial drivers tested positive for delta-9 THC, the ingredient in cannabis that causes a psychotropic ‘high,’ 40,916 times in 2022, up from 29,511 in 2020 and 31,085 in 2021, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse December 2022 report.

Commercial drivers tested positive for cocaine 10,953 times in 2022 and methamphetamine 5,569 times, according to the report.

Illicit drugs were not the only identifiable substances leading to positive drug test outcomes according to the report; commercial drivers also tested positive for prescription medications such as oxycodone, hydrocodone and morphine.

The most positive drug results came from Texas, with California and Florida rounding out the top three states.

The clearinghouse is a federal database that offers information to employers, drivers licensing agencies and law enforcement officials about drug and alcohol safety violations in the commercial transportation sector.

Drivers with violations in the clearinghouse must be removed from “safety-sensitive” functions, which include operating a commercial vehicle, according to the report. Drivers are permitted to return to work after completing a return-to-duty process.   

The report showed that 120,345 commercial drivers currently in “prohibited” status, preventing them from driving.

 

 

Most major lines of commercial insurance saw quarter-over-quarter increases in average premium renewal rate change for the fourth quarter, Tampa, Florida-based Ivans Insurance Services reported Friday.

An exception was workers compensation, which remained negative.

In commercial property lines, the fourth-quarter premium renewal rate change averaged 7.95%, compared with 6.95% in the third quarter. The average premium renewal rate change reached its high for the quarter in December at 8.38%, with the quarter low in October at 7.55%.

In general liability lines, fourth-quarter premium renewal rate changes averaged 5.49%, compared with the third quarter’s 5.01%. The quarterly average premium renewal rate change hit its low of 5.24% in October and its high of 5.71% in December.

Commercial auto coverages saw premium renewal rate changes average 5.62% for the quarter, compared with the third quarter’s 4.89%. The quarterly high of 6.13% was in December and the low of 5.12% in October.

The business owners policy premium renewal rate change increased an average of 7.01% in the fourth quarter, compared with 6.45% in the third quarter. The quarterly high was in December at 7.23% and the low in November at 6.66%.

Umbrella coverage fourth-quarter premium renewal rate change averaged 4.94%, compared with 5.21% in the third quarter. The umbrella premium renewal rate change reached its quarterly low in October at 4.44% and its high in December at 5.35%.

In workers compensation, the average premium renewal rate change for the quarter was -1.48%, compared with -1.08% in the third quarter. The high of -1.01% was in October and the low in November at -1.77%.

“2022’s hard market was reflected in this year’s Ivans Index, showing continued elevation in average premium renewal rates consistently across most major commercial lines,” Kathy Hrach, Ivans vice president of product management, said in a statement with the report.

Ivans is a division of University Park, Illinois-based Applied Systems Inc.

A legislative proposal in Oregon would add chiropractors to the list of medical providers qualified to be attending physicians in workers compensation claims.

Oregon lawmakers Thursday introduced House Bill 3150, which would also amend current comp law by removing limits on duration of medical service and number of visits and certain areas of practice for chiropractors serving as attending physicians in cases involving injured workers.

The bill also authorizes injured workers to receive compensable medical treatment from a primary care physician or chiropractor who is not a member of a managed care organization but who maintains an employee’s medical records and who has a documented history of treating the individual.

The measure would give managed care organizations the ability to authorize chiropractors to provide medical services and authorize temporary disability payments for longer durations.  

Meanwhile, Oregon legislators filed a separate bill, S.B. 418, earlier this month that would mandate employers adopt policies that offer injured workers paid time off during scheduled shifts in order to attend medical appointments relating to compensable injury or occupational disease claims.

The measure prevents employers from forcing injured workers to use paid personal time off, sick leave, vacation time or any other accrued paid time off in order to attend to their appointments.

Under the measure, employers would be required to implement the new time off policies no later than Dec. 31.

That bill was referred to the Senate Labor and Business Committee on Jan. 14.

Both of the bills were filed as emergency legislation that are scheduled to take effect immediately upon passage. 

 

A trial court correctly determined a Texas nursing professor didn’t have to first file a workers compensation claim before civilly suing a campus police officer after the woman was struck by a cruiser in a school parking lot, an appeals court ruled.

The Court of Appeals of Texas, Thirteenth District, affirmed Thursday a trial judge’s decision denying a move by the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley to dismiss Rita Oteka’s personal injury suit because she failed to exhaust her administrative remedies before going to the civil courts.  

Ms. Oteka was injured in May 2019, after being struck by a university police vehicle while she was walking through a parking lot after attending a school graduation ceremony.

The university, a self-insured employer, informed Ms. Oteka about workers comp coverage, but Ms. Oteka said she would use private insurance.

The university then denied comp coverage, according to the ruling.  

Ms. Oteka sued for negligence in December 2020 and the university contended Ms. Oteka failed to exhaust her exclusive remedy under the Texas Workers’ Compensation Act and that jurisdiction should lie with the state workers comp division, not a trial court.

The insurer did not accept coverage until after Ms. Oteka filed her negligence suit and two-and-a-half years after the incident.

Ms. Oteka asserted that she was not in the course and scope of her employment when she was struck by the police car in the parking lot on graduation day.

The trial court agreed with Ms. Oteka and the university appealed.

The appeals court ruled the trial judge correctly determined Ms. Oteka’s lawsuit is not based on whether she is eligible for comp benefits and that she was not required to exhaust her administrative remedies before the Division of Workers’ Compensation before commencing a civil suit. 

 

A Vail, Colorado, construction contractor is facing felony manslaughter charges after a worker died in a trench collapse in 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor announced Thursday.

Following the accident, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited Peter Dillon, owner of the now-defunct A4S LLC, after a worker installing residential sewer pipes suffered fatal injuries when the trench he was working in caved in. The collapse resulted from deteriorating conditions at the project, which A4S could have prevented by using legally required trench protection systems, the department said in a statement.

OSHA issued three willful citations and $449,583 in penalties to A4S for not ensuring the excavation was inspected by a competent person, failing to instruct employees on the recognition and avoidance of unsafe conditions, and not having a trench protective system in place. Investigators also issued an additional serious citation for not having a safe means of egress within 25 lateral feet of employees working in a trench. OSHA also placed the company in its Severe Violator Enforcement Program.

The department then referred the case to a U.S. District Attorney’s office, recommending criminal charges for the company’s alleged refusal to require safety protection despite worsening trench conditions that included at least one collapse. 

Mr. Dillon agreed to forfeit any future ownership, leadership or management position that involves trenching or excavation, or the oversight of workplace safety and health, according to the department.

 

 

 

Seeking to improve accountability among employers who repeatedly violate workplace safety and health rules, the U.S. Department of Labor announced Thursday that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration will change the way it cites companies to ensure greater compliance.

OSHA says its administrators will now have the authority to cite certain types of violations as “instance-by-instance citations” for cases where the agency identifies “high-gravity” serious violations of OSHA standards specific to certain conditions where the language of the rule supports a citation for each instance of non-compliance.

The agency said in a statement that it is also discouraging its administrators not to group violations, “and instead cite them separately to more effectively encourage employers to comply.”

“Smart, impactful enforcement means using all the tools available to us when an employer ‘doesn’t get it’ and will respond to only additional deterrence in the form of increased citations and penalties,” Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health Doug Parker said in a statement. “This is intended to be a targeted strategy for those employers who repeatedly choose to put profits before their employees’ safety, health and wellbeing. Employers who callously view injured or sickened workers simply as a cost of doing business will face more serious consequences.” 

The conditions that apply to the enhanced enforcement measures include lockout/tagout, machine guarding, permit-required confined space, respiratory protection, falls, trenching and for cases with other-than-serious violations specific to recordkeeping. 

“The change is intended to ensure OSHA personnel are applying the full authority of the Occupational Safety and Health Act where increased citations are needed to discourage non-compliance,” the department said. 

The new guidance covers enforcement activity in general industry, agriculture, maritime and construction industries, and becomes effective 60 days from Jan. 26, 2023. The current policy has been in place since 1990 and applies only to egregious willful citations.

 

A small percentage of employees with COVID-19 workers compensation claims during the early days of the pandemic received additional medical care in the months after their diagnosis due to “long COVID,” according to a study.

The Workers Compensation Research Institute on Thursday released a study that found 7% of workers with COVID-19 claims developed “long COVID,” and that “long COVID” was most prevalent among workers who were hospitalized during the early stage of the disease.

The study showed that among workers who received medical care during their infected period, around 20% received “long COVID” treatment and about 33% of workers who received both medical care and indemnity payments were similarly treated for lingering symptoms.

About 74% of workers treated early on for the virus in intensive care units also received long COVID treatment.

Workers comp claims for “long COVID” saw higher than average medical payments, indemnity benefits and longer durations of temporary disability than COVID-19 claims not involving “long COVID,” the researchers reported.

Medical payments in comp cases also increased when factoring in “long COVID,” with average payments for claims involving “long COVID” rising above $25,000 while average medical payments for claims not involving “long COVID” were around $3,000, the study states.

The study determined the majority of medical costs were connected to workers who were hospitalized or admitted to intensive care units during the early stages of the infection.

Average costs for these types of claims rose above $50,000 for hospitalized workers and above $150,000 for those with ICU care. 

The study analyzed COVID-19 cases where the initial date of infection was between March 1, 2020, and September 30, 2020.