N.Y. bill would aim to improve comp efficiency

A New York lawmaker on Thursday introduced a large bill that would make comprehensive changes to the workers compensation system to help improve timing of wage-replacement benefits and medical treatment, and require employers to file with the state Board of Workers Compensation annual reports on financial data and claims, among other changes.

A. 7045, introduced by Assemblyman Harry Bronson, D-Rochester, and sent to the labor committee, proposes a number of changes to the system that would improve efficiency and provide cost savings, according to a bill summary.

Also in the proposal are cost-of-living adjustment modifications for indemnity payments, language that stipulates survivor benefits, language that defines and modifies what is determined as extreme hardship for an injured worker, the creation of a committee to determine a fee and treatment schedule for injured workers, and employer requirements for a return to work program, among other modifications to New York law.

The bill also provides clarity in the state’s definition of temporary total disability “which shall consist of the injured employee's inability to perform his or her at-injury employment or any modified employment offered by the employer that is consistent with the employee's disability.”

The bill also proposes that compensation for permanent or temporary partial disability, or for permanent or temporary total disability due to an accident or disability resulting from an occupational disease within certain parameters, “could not be less than one-sixth of the New York state average weekly wage” for the year in which the injury is reported.