COVID-19 legislative, regulatory changes affecting comp: report

More than one-third of states have accepted COVID-19 as an occupational illness for certain professionals, according to a report released Wednesday by the National Council on Compensation Insurance.

Overall, 19 states have made changes to workers compensation compensability amid the pandemic, according to the Boca Raton, Florida-based ratings agency. Eleven states have

issued executive orders, directives or emergency rules on COVID-19 presumptions of compensability for workers who claim they caught the disease on the job, and eight states have passed legislation establishing presumptions of compensability for certain workers.

NCCI provided an overview of actions by state legislatures, governors and regulators through July 31 to address workers compensation insurance, with the pandemic producing the biggest changes for payers, according to the report.

The eight states that have passed presumption legislation for COVID-19 are Alaska, Illinois, Minnesota, New Jersey, Utah, Vermont, Wisconsin and Wyoming. The 11 states that have issued executive orders, directives or emergency rules on COVID-19 presumptions and compensability are Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Mexico, and North Dakota, according to NCCI’s analysis.

More insurance and workers compensation news on the coronavirus crisis here.