State senator’s bill targets undocumented workers.
COLUMBUS — Undocumented immigrants injured on the job would no longer get workers compensation benefits in Ohio, if pending legislation becomes law.
State Sen. Bill Seitz, R-Cincinnati, said he was surprised to learn that the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation doesn’t ask whether an injured worker is legal or illegal before cutting a check for benefits — something he deemed a “shameful practice.”
Seitz introduced Senate Bill 238 to require injured workers to submit a driver’s license, passport or other documentation proving they are in the United States legally before their workers’ compensation claim can be paid.
“This is grandstanding at its worst,” said attorney David Leopold of Cleveland, who is president-elect of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. “It is not going to help keep Ohio any safer. It’s not going to curb illegal immigration in Ohio.”
Leopold said it wrongly emphasizes punishing the injured worker rather than focus on enforcing current laws against hiring undocumented workers.
Workers’ compensation is an insurance program that pays lost wages and medical costs for workers injured on the job. Employers pay premiums based on the number of workers, type of industry and business track record. Ohio BWC pays claims to tens of thousands of injured workers annually and has an investment portfolio of $34 billion.
It is unclear how many undocumented workers are in Ohio or how many are receiving workers’ compensation benefits.
Don Sherman of the Cincinnati Inter Faith Worker Center, which works with immigrants, estimates 150,000 to 200,000 undocumented workers are in Ohio.
He said undocumented workers often work in high-injury industries such as construction and meat packing and frequently do not receive adequate safety training. He cited cases of injured workers being dropped off at emergency rooms and being told by bosses to report that they were injured at home.
Seitz’s bill would do the following:
• Give an injured worker 28 days to submit proof that he is authorized to work in the United States, such as a passport or driver’s license. Without such documentation, the claim would not be paid.
• Allow an injured undocumented worker to sue his employer to pay for the injuries, provided the worker proves the employer hired him knowing that he was not permitted to work in the U.S.
Leopold said few undocumented workers would sue an employer for fear of deportation and possible separation from family members who are U.S. citizens. As a result, more employers would have incentive to hire undocumented workers because their injuries on the job wouldn’t be counted against them when calculating their workers’ compensation premiums.
Roger Geiger, executive director of the NFIB in Ohio, said his group has yet to take a position on Seitz’s bill, but he is concerned about unintended consequences such as added paperwork for businesses.
Noting that it’s unclear how many undocumented workers are receiving workers compensation, Geiger said, “If you fix it, does the remedy become greater than the problem?”
Wyoming, Idaho and Florida exclude illegal immigrants from the workers’ compensation system. Other states specifically allow benefits for injured undocumented workers.
Michigan bans such benefits but legislation is pending to allow them.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
ACUTE INJURY MANAGEMENT PROGRAM TRUCKING COMPANY
ACUTE INJURY MANAGEMENT PROGRAM
TRUCKING COMPANY
Case Histories/Samples of Cases That Would Have Benefited From Acute Injury Management:
1. Ronald Trucker:
DOI: 5/28/09
R.T.W.: not yet; So far, totally disabled x36 weeks at $800/week AWW = $28,800 lost on indemnity so far.
DOR: (date of referral to medical case management): 12/12/08
Red Flags That Would Have Been Picked Up By Acute Injury Management:
> Length of time between physician/neurologist appointments.
> Physician ignoring severity of symptoms/reported falls
> Handling of causality of fall at home resulting in shoulder injury; resulting in lengthy time until shoulder was evaluated, so the shoulder became frozen.
Potential Medical/Indemnity Savings Had Acute Injury Management Been Utilized:
> With Acute Injury Management involvement, and had not 7 months been lost from the DOI until the file was referred to medical case management, the claimant would have been less deconditioned, may not have developed depression symptoms that needed to be treated with medication, and would have been further along resulting in his achieving maximum medical improvement / full recovery at an earlier date and returning to work sooner.
> Entire shoulder injury/treatment might have been avoided had more regular physician visits been occurring and had the dizziness been addressed earlier (MRI, all treatment with Dr. Pollard, shoulder P.T., and possibly a manipulation under anesthesia).
> Even with fall at home, Acute Injury Management would have aggressively addressed the compensability issue avoiding a delay in treatment of the shoulder of almost 2 months, resulting in the frozen shoulder.
2. Sam Semi:
DOI: 2/21/08
R.T.W.: Mr. Semi never lost any time at work as a result of his injury.
DOR: 6/30/08
Red Flags That Would Have Been Picked Up By Acute Injury Management:
> Length of time between physician/neurologist appointments
> Elimination of the occupation medicine physician’s involvement on the file, which might have helped to get the medical issues addressed in a more timely manner.
> Failure of the neurology office to communicate or provide reports to the adjuster, insured or case management.
> Failure of the neurology office to further work up the reported shoulder injury, once positive findings were noted in the central nervous system.
Potential Acute Injury Management Cost Savings:
> Earlier referral to orthopedics to work up the shoulder, resulting in an earlier determination that there was in fact nothing wrong with the shoulder.
> Earlier recommendation for an IME, which resulted in a diagnosis that was unrelated to the claimant’s job, eliminating all financial responsibility on the part of the insured.
> All of this would have resulted in lower costs for case management, since indemnity and ultimately medical costs were not an issue after the IME.
Risk/Benefits to Trucking Company:
1. In these challenging economic times, this Acute Injury Management program could help save indemnity and medical costs resulting in fewer location shutdowns and staff layoffs.
2. This program should be able to be implemented just like your Wellness Program.
3. No commitment to increased referrals to medical case management; in fact earlier intervention should result in better, more effective treatment early on resulting in cases closing sooner. Acute Injury Management may recommend that a nurse case manager attend a task assignment appointment or in more complex cases provide full medical case management, but Trucking Company always has the option to say “no”.
4. Time savings for Workers’ Compensation Coordinator in setting up medical appointments, monitoring treatment/attendance, and obtaining medical reports. Medical updates are automatically provided after every medical appointment, freeing the Workers’ Compensation Coordinator up for other duties. --- The SRS Group
All names are fictitious.
www.srsrheab.com
www.thesrsgroup.net
TRUCKING COMPANY
Case Histories/Samples of Cases That Would Have Benefited From Acute Injury Management:
1. Ronald Trucker:
DOI: 5/28/09
R.T.W.: not yet; So far, totally disabled x36 weeks at $800/week AWW = $28,800 lost on indemnity so far.
DOR: (date of referral to medical case management): 12/12/08
Red Flags That Would Have Been Picked Up By Acute Injury Management:
> Length of time between physician/neurologist appointments.
> Physician ignoring severity of symptoms/reported falls
> Handling of causality of fall at home resulting in shoulder injury; resulting in lengthy time until shoulder was evaluated, so the shoulder became frozen.
Potential Medical/Indemnity Savings Had Acute Injury Management Been Utilized:
> With Acute Injury Management involvement, and had not 7 months been lost from the DOI until the file was referred to medical case management, the claimant would have been less deconditioned, may not have developed depression symptoms that needed to be treated with medication, and would have been further along resulting in his achieving maximum medical improvement / full recovery at an earlier date and returning to work sooner.
> Entire shoulder injury/treatment might have been avoided had more regular physician visits been occurring and had the dizziness been addressed earlier (MRI, all treatment with Dr. Pollard, shoulder P.T., and possibly a manipulation under anesthesia).
> Even with fall at home, Acute Injury Management would have aggressively addressed the compensability issue avoiding a delay in treatment of the shoulder of almost 2 months, resulting in the frozen shoulder.
2. Sam Semi:
DOI: 2/21/08
R.T.W.: Mr. Semi never lost any time at work as a result of his injury.
DOR: 6/30/08
Red Flags That Would Have Been Picked Up By Acute Injury Management:
> Length of time between physician/neurologist appointments
> Elimination of the occupation medicine physician’s involvement on the file, which might have helped to get the medical issues addressed in a more timely manner.
> Failure of the neurology office to communicate or provide reports to the adjuster, insured or case management.
> Failure of the neurology office to further work up the reported shoulder injury, once positive findings were noted in the central nervous system.
Potential Acute Injury Management Cost Savings:
> Earlier referral to orthopedics to work up the shoulder, resulting in an earlier determination that there was in fact nothing wrong with the shoulder.
> Earlier recommendation for an IME, which resulted in a diagnosis that was unrelated to the claimant’s job, eliminating all financial responsibility on the part of the insured.
> All of this would have resulted in lower costs for case management, since indemnity and ultimately medical costs were not an issue after the IME.
Risk/Benefits to Trucking Company:
1. In these challenging economic times, this Acute Injury Management program could help save indemnity and medical costs resulting in fewer location shutdowns and staff layoffs.
2. This program should be able to be implemented just like your Wellness Program.
3. No commitment to increased referrals to medical case management; in fact earlier intervention should result in better, more effective treatment early on resulting in cases closing sooner. Acute Injury Management may recommend that a nurse case manager attend a task assignment appointment or in more complex cases provide full medical case management, but Trucking Company always has the option to say “no”.
4. Time savings for Workers’ Compensation Coordinator in setting up medical appointments, monitoring treatment/attendance, and obtaining medical reports. Medical updates are automatically provided after every medical appointment, freeing the Workers’ Compensation Coordinator up for other duties. --- The SRS Group
All names are fictitious.
www.srsrheab.com
www.thesrsgroup.net
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