Last night New York’s State Senate passed the Budget and associated bills. Senate Bill S2009C contains many changes to the New York Workers’ Compensation Law.
Good for employers and carriers:
- Temporary disability benefits are limited to 2.5 years, after which payments of temp are credited to permanency. Source: Part NNN, Subpart A. (Of course, this is subject to exceptions, which we will discuss in the training).
- Simplifying the drug formulary. The bill requires the creation of a simple formulary, listing the medications which can be dispensed and are pre approved. The MTGs already list drugs – this may simply the review of medications prescribed. Source; Part NNN, Subpart C.
- Changes to the Disability Duration Guidelines & Scheduled Loss of Use findings. The Guidelines are used to determine the nature and extent of permanent residual disability in New York. The procedures for determining Schedule Loss of Use injuries will be reevaluated.
Bad for Employers:
- Permanent partially disabled claimants will no longer have to establish that they have not “voluntarily removed” themselves from the workforce to remain eligible for ongoing partial disability benefits. Source: Part NNN, Subpart A.
- Lowering the “safety net” from 80% partial disability to 75% disabled in order to qualify for extended permanent disability benefits when the initial allocation expires. Source: Part NNN, Subpart A, S2, 3.
How will this affect you?
Join our live training on Wednesday (https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/7412506454627418882) for a preview of how these new laws will change the practice in New York:
1:00 EST Session
(Button above not working?) Live training link to copy into your browser: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/7412506454627418882 or click here.
Presented by: Greg Lois, 1PM EST Wednesday, April 12, 2017.
