Lawmakers weigh COVID-19 death benefits on presumption

Lawmakers in New York are considering a bill that would provide death benefits to surviving dependents of public employees who continued working through the pandemic.

H.B. 2127, introduced Thursday and sent to the Assembly Labor Committee, establishes a COVID-19 presumption for public employees who were “required to physically report to work; did in fact physically report to work” as of March 1, 2020, and “contracted COVID-19; and where the applicable head of the member's retirement system or such system's medical board determines COVID-19 to have been a significant contributing factor in the member's death.”

Also introduced Thursday and sent to the labor committee was A.B. 2066, which addressed alternative treatments in workers compensation and opioid weaning. The bill states that “pre-authorized procedures shall not be construed or relied upon to support the premise that procedures not included on the pre-authorized list should be denied” and that pre-authorized procedures “shall not be given preference over alternative forms of treatment that are not on the pre-authorized procedures list."

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