Minnesota Supreme Court rules on workers comp

• Employees in Minnesota who formerly suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, but do not do so now, are not entitled to workers’ comp benefits.
• The Minnesota Supreme Court affirmed the Workers’ Compensation Court of Appeals on this issue in a case called Chrz vs. Mower County.
• The Workers’ Compensation Act requires employers to pay workers’ compensation benefits if the employee has disablement resulting from occupation disease.
• The Legislature in 2013 amended the act by including “mental impairment” in the definition of occupational disease, allowing benefits for PTSD.
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Montana latest state to lower rates

• The Montana State Fund, the state’s largest provider of workers’ compensation insurance, announced it is lowering premiums for policyholders.
• The average rate reduction approved by the MSF Board of Directors is around five percent.
• Montana State Fund cited fewer workplace accidents and workers returning to work as soon as medically appropriate are big factors in lowering premiums.
• Montana has had high injury rates, but those rates have been trending downward in recent years.
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Injured workers push for better exams

• The Washington Senate Labor and Commerce Committee heard testimony from injured workers pushing for the right to record state-mandated medical exams.
• When workers in the state become injured on the job, the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries typically orders the worker to undergo an exam by a state-paid doctor.
• Workers and their attorneys have complained the exams are unfair, lack transparency, and are used to cut off worker compensation benefits.
• Lawmakers claim that allowing recordings would level the playing field and eliminate discrepancies about what happened during exams.
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Workers comp study examines physicians’ care costs

• A new study from the Workers Compensation Research Institute examines the impact of vertical integration of medical providers on payments for workers’ compensation care.
• The study shows how payments for care provided by physicians to workers with injuries changed after hospitals and health systems acquired physician practices.
• Between 2012 and 2018, the percentage of physicians practicing at sites owned by hospitals or health systems increased from 32 to 49 percent for primary care physicians, and from 18 to 35 percent for orthopedic surgeons.
• Vertical integration increased the average payment per procedure by 8%, which translates to an average $29 increase in that measure.

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