Expanded Provider Legislation; Implications for Insurance Carriers

As part of Gov. Cuomo’s 2019-20 executive budget, a new law was passed expanding the types of medical providers that can apply to be authorized to treat injured workers under the New York State Workers’ Compensation System. The law will be effective January 1, 2020.

Prior to the legislation taking effect, only physicians, chiropractors, podiatrists, and psychologists could apply to be board-authorized to treat injured workers while nurse practitioners (NPs), physician assistants (PAs), occupational therapists, physical therapists and licensed clinical social workers (LCSWs) could only …

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The Effect of Immigration on New York Workers’ Compensation

New York state has one of the largest undocumented immigrant populations in the nation, coming in fourth behind Texas, California, and Florida. According to the most recent study taken by Pew Research Center in 2016, 725,000 unauthorized immigrants lived in New York state. Although it is illegal for employers to hire immigrant workers who are not documented and authorized to work in the United States, whether it is intentional or not, employers continue to hire undocumented immigrant workers every day.

When undocumented workers are injured …

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Can I Apportion to that Prior Injury/Condition?

Apportionment is an excellent mitigation strategy for carriers/employers. There are a couple of different scenarios to review when addressing apportionment; however, the threshold issue is permanency. Generally speaking, New York State Workers’ Compensation Law does not permit apportionment prior to permanency.

The most common form of apportionment involves a prior compensable event. Under this scenario, there is no requirement that the carrier/employer prove an “active and symptomatic condition” at the time of the new/later injury. Addressing apportionment to a prior compensable condition involves: (1) knowledge …

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