Potential Workers Compensation Changes
The referenced article written by Angela Childers and published by BusinessInsurance.com introduces changes in Ohio’s Workers’ Compensation legislation. House Bill 80 was passed through The Ohio House of Representatives on June 6, 2019 and will now be considered by the state Senate.
One implementation is sparking controversy; injured workers will now be asked to acknowledge that they are a citizen. Should the injured worker provide false information, not only would they be ineligible for workers’ compensation benefits but they also run the risk of being prosecuted. The concern with this revision in policy stems from the unease that employers may take advantage of undocumented workers knowing that they would be unable to file a workers’ compensation claim if they were hurt on the job, thereby saving the employer money.
The second major addition to Ohio’s Workers’ Compensation legislation is the ability for first responders to file a worker’s compensation claim based solely on PTSD. For many years our police officers, fire fighters, and emergency medical technicians have suffered from PTSD as a direct cause of their jobs wherein they experience traumatizing events on a regular basis. These first responders have been unable to claim workers’ compensation benefits to cover this condition because it wasn’t classified as a “physical” injury. Now that House Bill 80 has been passed, first responders will be able to have treatment for their PTSD covered under a workers’ compensation claim.