Following the rise of the COVID-19 pandemic, all branches of government and administrative bodies have grappled with how to address the health and economic threats posed by the virus, while staying within the bounds of their rule-making authority and powers.

Yesterday morning the Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission (IWCC) voted unanimously to repeal the April 16th emergency rule, which declared a First Responder’s or Front-Line Worker’s exposure to COVID-19 the virus would be rebuttably presumed to have arisen out of and in the course of employment, and that the resulting injury and lost time would be presumed causally connected to the employment.

While development letters (CMS letters asking for additional information for a submitted MSA) have slowed over the last several months, we are still seeing them, nonetheless. 

Attorney William Lowry recently wrote about workers’ compensation insurance considerations when Illinois employees are working abroad. 

For those of us who have been doing Medicare Set-Asides for over a decade, CMS’ pricing of prescription drugs has been a difficult pill to swallow. 

Approval of Workers’ Compensation Medicare Set-Asides (WCMSA) by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) remains the “gold standard.”

On April 21, 2020, the Illinois Manufacturers’ Association (IMA) and Illinois Retail Merchants Association (IRMA) filed case 2020 CH 000098 in the Circuit Court of Sangamon County.

Effective April 1, 2020, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) imposed new obligations on private sector employers with less than 500 employees and covered governmental employers to provide employees with paid leave related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

On April 13, 2020, the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission created an emergency amendment to Rule 9030.70, expanding the Commission’s Rules of Evidence to include a rebuttable presumption for first responders and front-line workers exposed to COVID-19.

Effective April 13, 2020, the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission amended Rule 9030.70, expanding the Commission’s Rules of Evidence to include a rebuttable presumption for first responders and front-line workers exposed to COVID-19.