Senate Bill 5 – General Assembly 131 “PTSD and Ohio Workers’ Compensation”
Senate Bill 5 seeks to have post traumatic stress disorder without physical injury included in the definition of injury for police officers, firefighters and emergency medical workers. Clearly, this move is well intentioned however, it is mired in imprecise language that will cause unintentional consequences resulting in abuse on many levels.
The language in the bill seeks to widen the definition of what was initially – first responders, and emergency technicians, paramedics to “emergency medical workers” – by removing limiting language. This certainly expands the scope of the affected individual.
Of most concern is the emphasis on diagnosis rather than the event itself, which would be very specific to each individual. The fluidity of the language causes difficulty in determining which types of events would warrant this diagnosis and the fact that the latency periods are completely individually based.
The Ohio BWC estimates that the change could cost employers $182 million annually – based on calculations using a national average of 18 percent for first responders filing for PTSD – and double the premiums for public employers.
OSIA Conference Update
Congratulations to Mike Koneval, Director of Business Development at MRG Exams, winner of our gift basket at the Annual OSIA Conference!
Lisa Patterson will present at the OSIA Annual Conference June 17-19, 2015
Lisa Patterson will present at the Annual Ohio Self-Insurers Association Conference, June 17-19, 2015 at The Westin Cleveland Downtown.
What lies beyond an Industrial Commission “final” decision? Lisa Patterson will discuss the avenues of relief that are available beyond the normal administrative appeals process. For example, reconsiderations of final decisions are more likely to be heard by the Commission than appeals.
Ms. Patterson will also discuss the Ohio court remedies that may be used to challenge Commission decisions and how to prepare to improve your chances of success.
If you are interested in this seminar, please go to the OSIA website for more information, http://www.osiaohio.org/.
Ohio Association for Justice seminar May 8, 2015
Lisa Patterson will present at the Ohio Association for Justice, “New Lawyers Training Day 2” at 8:00 a.m. on Friday, May 8.
Lisa will discuss “Building Relationships with Opposing Counsel,” along with Gerald Parker, Esq.
Things Clients Want to Know:
Q: I want to buy a company, is it important to look at its workers’ compensation liability?
A: One would think that mergers and acquisitions would have no impact on workers’ compensation law, however while companies are engaging in due diligence, how many times are they also scrutinizing the workers’ compensation programs of their potential acquisition? Any time one employer succeeds another employer in the operation of a business in whole, or in part, it is the acquisition/merger or purchase/sale it’s the successor’s responsibility to:
1. Notify the BWC of the Succession
2. Preserve the predecessor employer’s payroll records for five years preceding the date of the succession.
It is within the sole discretion of the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation to adopt rules establishing “the rates to be applied where one employer takes over the occupations or industry of another or where an employer first makes application for state insurance. ” O.R.C. 4123.32(D). With the sole discretion of rate setting, given to the BWC, it is very difficult for an employer to assert control over adopting the better risk.
In addition, when a merger of a self-insured entity and a state fund entity takes place, the rules require the self-insured employer to “buy out” the State Fund insured liability of the merging entity. Without question, these costs can become very significant in the post-merger/ post-sale climate and need to be considered in the initial negotiations of any merger and acquisition.