Mental Health Gets Protection

New Jersey has taken a groundbreaking step forward in supporting the mental health of its first responders. Governor Phil Murphy signed Assembly Bill 5792, which requires workers' compensation to cover 12 hours of counseling for first responders following certain traumatic events. This legislation, now codified as P.L. 2025, c. 134, took effect on August 21, 2025, marking a significant expansion of workers' compensation benefits for mental health issues.

Jersey Fights COVID Workplace Risks

New Jersey's bold move to expand COVID-19 vaccine access represents a critical step forward in workplace safety and pandemic preparedness at a time when other states are moving in the opposite direction. The Garden State's recent Executive Directive No. 25-003 and accompanying Standing Order demonstrate how state-level leadership can protect workers and communities when federal guidance falls short.

Toxic Flight Attendant Uniforms Result in a $1.1 Million Verdict

Wearing an employer-designated work uniform shouldn’t result in severe and debilitating occupational exposures. Unfortunately, some American Airlines flight attendants suffered injuries from wearing the flight uniforms prescribed by their employer. The lawsuit that they filed lawsuit resulted in a $1.1 Million award.

Another Class of Benefits Proposed for Workers’ Compensation

The NJ Legislature is considering expanding the multitiered program to compensate the victims of industrial illness. This time a supplemental benefit program is being offered to compensate healthcare workers who contracted COVID-19.

Governor Murphy Reinstates Public Health Emergency Triggering Presumptions of Compensability

Governor Phil Murphy today reinstated a Public Health Emergency, effective immediately, in order to ensure that the State is able to respond to the continued threat of COVID-19 and the rapidly spreading Omicron variant. The declaration of a public health emergency by statute triggers the workers’ compensation compensability presumptions for essential workers.

Virus Sequencing Useful to Establish Causal Relationship

A recently reported technique maybe prove extremely helpful to establish causal relationship in workers’ compensation cases. Whether a healthcare worker’s severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection is community or hospital acquired affects establishment of compensability of a claim. 

Lessons from Asbestos Litigation Apply to COVID Claims

The rapid emergence of COVID-19 creates new challenges for the nation’s patchwork of state run workplace benefit delivery systems. This paper draws a comparison between COVID claims and asbestos claims, the “Largest and Longest” wave of occupational disease claims in the United States. The comparison offers insight into avoiding past economic, administrative and benefit delivery pitfalls. The lessons from asbestos claims provide an insight into maintaining a sustainable workers’ compensation system to meet the surge of COVID claims.

Coronavirus (COVID-19) - The workers' compensation community should support TTSI

The workers' compensation community should play an active role to contain the spread of COIVD-19. Labor, Industry and insurance companies must be encouraged to participate in contact tracing, testing and supported isolation [TTSI]. All reports of illness and incidents of COVID-19 should trigger reportable investigations that are co-ordinated with local and state health agencies. Communication with employees should be encouraged for testing, isolation and expansion of contact testing.

Health Care Experts Discuss a COVID Second Wave

How do we know when the second wave is starting? What should we expect? These are only two of the questions Dr. Chad Kessler, National Program Director for VHA Emergency Medicine, asked during a recent COVID in 20 interview with VA Infectious Disease and Epidemiology wizards, Michael A. Gelman, M.D., Ph.D., and Gio Baracco, M.D., from James J. Peters VA Medical Center in the Bronx, New York and Miami VA Healthcare System in Miami, Florida respectively.

Emergency Federal Coronavirus Funding - Better late than never

The recently enacted emergency coronavirus Federal funding legislation will offer some support to ease the burden of the epidemic on the workers’ compensation benefit system. Since the containment phase has been hampered by the lack of valid test kits, the US is now entering the mitigation phase. The additional resources to treat and eliminate the credible COVID-19 virus epidemic will prove beneficial.

Rand Study Urges National Workers’ Compensation Reforms

A national study by the Rand Corporation is urging changes to the workers’ compensation system. The study was commissioned by the US National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and approaches necessary improvements inorder to make the nation’s workplaces safer.

The Rise and Fall of Workers' Compensation - The Path to Federalization

Every year The Board of Trustees of the Federal Hospital Insurance and Federal Supplemental Medical Supplemental Medical Insurance Trust Funds makes an actuarial guess as to the future financial solvency of Medicare. The report creates an annual news frenzy in the workers’ compensation community since Medicare is both the safety net for injured workers and playground for employers and their insurance companies to use in cost shifting,

Governor of Nevada Vetoes Single-Payer Legislation

Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval has vetoed legislation that would have established a single-payer Assembly Bill 374 would have expanded a Medicare-type health care insurance plan. coverage to provide health care coverage to all Nevada residents.

US Department of Labor Urges Major Changes in the Nation's Workers' Compensation System

As The Path to Federalization of the US workers' compensation system broadens, the US Department of Labor has published a report urging expansion of the Federal role in reforming the entire patchwork of state systems. As the Presidential Election Cycle moves ahead, the ultimate outcome will impact the the nation's struggling workers' compensation scheme. Based on historical statements both "Hillarycare" or "Trump Medical," (lead by his advisor, Former Speaker Newt Gingrich,  will focus on this issue. See  my prior blog posts below.

The Difficult Task of the Florida Supreme Court

The Florida Supreme has before it a constitutional challenge once again concerning workers’ compensation. The scope of the controversy remains undefined and the ultimate impact equally uncertain. I have found over the years that one cannot predict the outcome of a case by merely watching an oral argument.

Sanders Proposes Universal Health Care: The Path to Federalization

Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has announced a plan to move forward with a Universal Medical Care program in the US. The concept will absorb the nation's ailing the medical workers' compensation delivery system into a universal care system.

Emerging Concepts for Future Workers' Compensation Benefits: Portability Now

Workers' Compensation as a benefit program is beginning to evolve under the concept of "The Shared Economy." Attacked from within and without, challenged by abuse and fraud, drained by the cottage industries and vendors, national lawmakers, labor leaders, insurance companies, governmental agencies, and the media, are speaking out to change the century old system that fails to integrate with current social, political, economic and medical programs.

A recent letter from national labor leaders has called for a "portable" system of benefits that will replace the current patch-work of systems called "workers' compensation programs.":

"We need a portable vehicle for worker protections and benefits.Traditionally, benefits and protections such as workers compensation, unemployment insurance, paid time off, retirement savings, and training/development have been, largely or partly, components of a worker’s employment relationship with an employer. The Affordable Care Act has disrupted that model, providing more independent workers a different avenue of access to health insurance. Another new model is needed to support new ways of work. We believe this model should be:

● Independent: Any worker should be able to access a certain basic set of protections as an individual regardless of where they source income opportunities.

● Flexible and pro-rated: People are pulling together income from a variety of sources, so any vehicle should support contributions that can be pro-rated by units of money earned, jobs done, or time worked, covering new ways of micro-working across different employers or platforms.

● Portable: A person should be able to take benefits and protections with them in and out of various work scenarios.

● Universal: All workers should have access to a basic set of benefits regardless of employment status.

● Supportive of innovation: Businesses should be empowered to explore and pilot safety net options regardless of the worker classification they utilize.

Related articles

• Reshaping Workers' Compensation for the Sharing Economy (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)

The Path to Federalization: US Supreme Court Again Validates the Affordable Care Act

The US Supreme Court again affirmed the validity of The Affordable Care Act. The Obamacare program, as it has been nicknamed, will continue to lead to a medical delivery program than eventually will have major repercussions on the antiquated and ineffective medical care system of the existing patch work of state workers' compensation insurance acts.

Republican Lawmakers Set To Unveil Health Law Replacement Plan

Health care is a known unknown in the future of workers' compensation. If the Scott Walker's Wisconsin plan to dismantle workers' compensation is implemented, will that lead to more uninsured workers, or a merger into a universal health care program? Will it be a step backward to the 1994 Contract With America and the Newt Gingrich plan to eliminate workers' altogether? The debate continues as the 2016 national election cycle continues to frame the issues. Today's post was shared by Kaiser Health News and comes from kaiserhealthnews.org

House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton declined to give details on the plan. Some Republicans are pushing tax credits and deductions for health care, and others are pushing the idea of "portable" health coverage -- the ability to take your insurance from job to job. The Associated Press: GOP Lawmakers Ready A Plan To Replace Obama Health Care Law A Republican House committee chairman says he and two GOP senators are preparing to release a plan for replacing President Barack Obama's health care law. House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton declined to discuss details Tuesday, but said the proposal will give Republicans a proposal that they can stand behind. The Michigan Republican said he, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch of Utah and Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina will unveil their proposal Thursday. (2/3) The Fiscal Times: New GOP Congress Develops Alternate Health Plans House lawmakers are planning to vote for a 60th time today to repeal the president’s health care law – a vote that’s legislatively pointless but politically symbolic. Many of the 47 GOP freshmen who were elected last November won at least in part because their constituents were anti-Obamacare. (Ehley, 2/3)

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Related articles

• GOP lawmakers ready a plan to replace Obama health care law (sfgate.com)
• Newt Gingrich Is Back: Now Wants To Protect Workers From Unions (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
• The Gingrich Revival and The Future of Workers' Compensation (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
• Gingrich Calls for More Child Labor, Calls Laws "Stupid" (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
• Gingrich Calls Present Workers' Compensation System Dangerous (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)

National Trends and Developments in Workers' Compensation

This brief looks at trends and developments in state workers' compensation systems across the nation over the last 25 years, identifying at least seven that undermine workers' human rights to health and work with dignity. The brief calls for immediate action to end the roll back on injured and ill workers' rights and advocates for broad systemic change based on human rights notions. Workers' comp is one of several systems created through public policy to offer social protection and health care to some people in certain scenarios, which, together, are failing to guarantee everyone access to health care and income support when they need it. It is ultimately the government's responsibility to guarantee and enable all people to enforce their rights to universal health care and a basic income.
Downloads:
Workers Comp Trends and Developments October 2014.pdf

- See more at: http://www.nesri.org/resources/national-trends-and-developments-in-workers-compensation#sthash.nNJrsF3v.dpuf

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