Three new bills have been supported by the Business Council of New York as reforms to workers’ compensation insurance. In no subtle manner, the Business Council specifically favors the employer and insurance carrier in each of these bills, citing that some awards give too much back to the injured worker for too long a period of time. The most recent of the three was introduced at the beginning of this month.
All three proposed Bills currently hold an “In Committee” status according to the New York Senate website. Bill A5977 addresses impairment guidelines for Schedule Loss of Use awards, or SLU awards. Bill A6218 aims to limit workers’ compensation benefits for partial permanent disability (PPD) benefits. Lastly, Bill A6602 focuses on the schedule of the Permanent Partial Disability benefits, which the previous stated Bill already aims to limit. The benefits would be given for a determined amount of time after the date of accident, and any other PPD benefits that exceeded the rate would be paid to the insurance carrier. Bills A5977 and A6218 were both introduced at the end of February but A6602 was introduced this month, on March 9th. Another aim of the Bills is to extend the opt-out period for employers from 30 days to 120 days.
In an overwhelming public response against these proposed bills, a petition on MoveOn.Org received more than 600 signatures overnight. On March 16th the bill had 339 with a goal of 400, which was ultimately far surpassed. On the 17th, the petition had 1,012 and a new goal set to 2,000. Although the website does not currently state when the petition started, the first signature was submitted on March 9th, the same day that most recent Bill was introduced. The links to the Bills as well as the petition are all linked below. MDASR, LLP. stands opposed to these proposed bills and urges all those concerned with the protection of workers’ rights to sign this petition.
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