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Ohio
Workers' Compensation Guide:
2006 Workers' Compensation Amendments
In 2006, the legislature amended the workers' compensation law.
An unsuccessful
referendum challenge was made to some of these amendments.
The amendments which
were not challenged by the referendum became effective June 30,
2006. The effective date of
the amendments which were challenged by the attempted referendum is October 11, 2006. For a list of the statutes amended in 2006, and whether they were challenged by the referendum, click here.
The most important changes to the workers' compensation system are
listed below. Provisions which were challenged by the referendum petition are in italics.
Changes Affecting Injured Workers
Injury:
The new law makes two changes to
the injury
definition.
R.C. 4123.01(C)(1) is
amended to require that a psychological
injury is only compensable if there is a physical injury to the person
suffering the psychological harm. This requirement overrides
the
Supreme Court's decision in Bailey
v. Republic Engineered Steels, Inc. (2001), 91 Ohio St.3d
38,
2001-Ohio-236.
R.C.
4123.01(C)(4) adds
a requirement that there must be "substantial aggravation" in order for
aggravation of an injury to be compensable. This requirement
overrides the Supreme Court's decision in Schell v. Globe Trucking, Inc.
(1990), 48 Ohio St.3d 1.
R.C.
4123.54(G)
provides that if a condition is "substantially aggravated",
no compensation is payable once the condition returns to the state it
was in before the injury.
Method of
Payment:
R.C.
4123.311 permits
the BWC to require use of debit cards and/or direct deposit for
payments.
Appeals to
Court:
R.C.
4123.512(D)
provides that a claimant cannot dismiss a case in the Common Pleas
court without the
employer's consent if the employer filed the appeal. This
overrides the Supreme Court's decision in Kaiser v. Ameritemps, Inc.
(1999),
84 Ohio St.3d 411, 1999-Ohio-360.
R.C.
4123.512(G) raises
the attorney fee paid in cases where an injured worker establishes the
right to participate in an appeal to court from $2,500 to $4,200.
Continuing
Jurisdiction:
R.C.
4123.52 reduces
continuing jurisdiction in medical only claims from 6 years
to 5
years, and reduces continuing jurisdiction in lost time claims from 10
years to 5 years.
Wage Loss
R.C.
4123.56(B)(1)
reduces the total amount of weeks of wage loss compensation by counting
R.C. 4123.67
(rehabilitation) wage loss compensation as part of the overall 200 week
limit for payment of working wage loss.
R.C. 4123.56(B)(2) reduces non-working wage loss from 200 to 52 weeks
but, together with R.C. 4123.56(B)(3) raises the total possible weeks
of wage loss compensation to 226 by providing that 26 weeks of
non-working wage compensation do not count against
the 200 week limit for wage loss compensation.
Permanent Partial
R.C. 4123.57 reduces the 40 week waiting period to 26 weeks.
R.C. 4123.57(B) raises the maximum facial disfigurement award from
$5,000 to $10,000.
Permanent
Total
R.C.
4123.58(A) reduces
that amount of permanent total paid in some situations by providing
that
the permanent total amount is based on the average weekly wage at the
time of the injury or occupational disease. This overrides
the
Supreme Court's decision in State,
ex rel. Lemke v. Brush Wellman, Inc. (1998), 84 Ohio St.3d
161.
R.C. 4123.61 also limits recalculation of the average weekly wage for
permanent total awards.
R.C.
4123.58(C)(1)
provides that the loss of one limb does not equal the loss of two body
parts, overriding the Supreme Court's decision in State, ex rel. Thomas v. Indus.
Comm.
(2002), 97 Ohio St.3d 37, 2002-Ohio-5306.
Settlement
R.C.
4123.65(A) permits filing settlement applications without the
employer's signature
in certain situations (employer no longer in state, claim not in
employer's
experience, employer did not comply with 4123.35) and indicates that if
a settlement application is filed without the employer's signature and
the
employer doesn't respond to a notice within 30 days, the employer's
signature is
not required.
R.C. 4123.65(C) provides that a settlement can be voided if the
employee dies within the 30 day
waiting period after the settlement is signed.
Changes Affecting the BWC
Fraud
R.C. 2913.48 creates categories of fraud applicable to employers.
Child Support
R.C. 3121.0311 provides that if a claim is subject to withholding for
child support, the BWC (or self-insurer) shall hold lump sum payments
for 30 days to permit payment of the attorney’s fee, if the
attorney
files the appropriate paperwork.
Oversight
Commission
R.C. 4121.12 provides that the Oversight Commission cannot create
limits on conducting business with investment managers that are more
restrictive than those contained in R.C. 3517.13.
Investigations
R.C. 4121.131 establishes the BWC’s special investigations
department
as a criminal justice agency authorized to access criminal databases.
Medical
R.C. 4121.441 permits the BWC to exempt medical services which were
approved by presumptive authorization or standard guidelines from the
dispute resolution process.
R.C. 4121.444 establishes health care fraud penalties.
Premiums/payments
R.C. 4123.29 requires the administrator to create a program to mitigate
significant first time claims from excluding employers from group-rated
plans.
R.C. 4123.311 permits the BWC to use direct deposit for payments and
also permits BWC to contract with an agent to provide debit cards for
claimants to use to access workers’ compensation payments.
R.C. 4123.32 provides penalties for late payment of premiums by
employers.
R.C. 4123.35 provides for assessments for the surplus fund, and
provides penalties for late payments.
Public records
R.C. 4123.88 indicates what matters are excluded from public records
laws and what information shall be given to journalists.
Other information:
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