Comp industry facing hurdles with long COVID: Report
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The lack of a true diagnostic category for long COVID, symptoms that linger long after infection with the coronavirus, and the scarcity of workers compensation data on the illness are just two challenges facing the comp industry, according to a paper released Wednesday.
Sedgwick Claims Management Services Inc.’s commentary on an illness that is now considered a disabling condition under federal law paints a complicated picture for the industry.
“Because the symptoms of long COVID are sporadic and often differ from those that people experienced when first contracting the virus, the resulting health challenges are not always accurately identified as being associated with COVID,” the authors wrote.
How many claims will the industry see from those presumably infected at work? For comp, tracking long COVID has its challenges, the authors wrote.
“Tracking COVID claims lasting at least a certain number of days may not yield completely accurate data on long COVID, as they will also include extended hospital stays and debilitating symptoms associated with the original bouts of COVID.”
Accommodating long COVID should get the same treatment as any disability, the authors wrote. And even that will be challenging, they said.
“(I)ndividuals with long-term complications have a new burden of proof to show that their lingering symptoms are directly associated with their original COVID claims. Extended durations between claim incidents can further complicate this burden of proof and the ability to demonstrate compensability,” the paper states.
