This is the second post in a series addressing guidance for employers on operating safely during the COVID-19 pandemic.

On May 21, 2020, the Illinois Legislature amended the Illinois Workers’ Occupational Diseases Act to provide a rebuttable presumption in favor of compensability for First Responders and Front-Line workers who contract COVID-19.

All 50 states are moving towards some level of reopening businesses following closures caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Last month, the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission (IWCC) withdrew its April 16th emergency rule creating a rebuttable presumption in favor of compensability for First Responders or Front-Line Workers who contract COVID-19.

Workers’ compensation COVID-19 exposure claims involving Medicare beneficiaries may need to be reported to the Benefits Coordination and Recovery Center under Section 111 mandatory reporting.

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.