Posts From June, 2022

How Trump Policies Affect Workers Comp

We saw in 2017 how healthcare was tried by President Trump, there were plenty of changes put in place. However, not much has changed as far as healthcare and workers compensation are concerned.

In recent years, workers compensation has continued to model a system that is based on value in order to alleviate high costs and turn towards the workers well-being and health for the long-term.

With professionals in workers compensation and employee benefits, they are needing to be ready for models that are bearing risk.

On a historical level, both payers and providers of occupational health have continued to take the lead. They continue to close any gaps seen among community health and health that is employer-based by integrating practices that are absence management. Having these models allows for the best guidance that is effective and saves costs through the use of guidelines, duration tables, analytics, and modeling that is predictive so that performance can be driven.

No matter what type of program or policy is created, it will become advantageous to use decisions that are based on evidence and methods that are important while the government and employers attempt to  decrease the costs of healthcare as employees attempt to make a healthy recovery.

Workers Compensation Impacted by Plans of Infrastructure and Free-Market

It was believed that workers compensation would be impacted positively in regards to the premiums, which would be based on a plan to improve the infrastructure at a cost of more than $500 billion that would be in support of waterways and roadways. Even so, there still remain many questions of how the changes would make an impact. A good example of this is if a worker is able to obtain coverage through workers compensation the same way as they were before.

With workers compensation law, each state manages them at their own level, which only causes an indirect impact. In addition, the changes in immigration law have also affected the way states handle undocumented immigrants who file for workers compensation.

Care That is Value-Based

In order for the workers to get the care they need, a provider will be using the tools designed for care that is value-based so that they are in compliance with the platform of healthcare established by Trump. With a significant amount of support for prices and empowerment among consumers, the outcomes of clinical performance will remain a main concentration for the future. In reality, the groups who lead the healthcare industry are all in agreement that the MACRA will continue to be unaffected  and will help advance models that bear risk.

In actuality, the efforts continuing today will likely continue to create risk. An example involves  how organization penalties occur due to not participating fast enough in which the law requires for Quality Payment Programs.

For the moment, initiatives exist that have shifted the cost burden away from employers and to networks, which will need quicker activity return.

What We Can Expect

As we continue to see changes evolving around workers compensation, both employee and provider needs to remain determined in order to be prepared for care that is value-based while taking advantage of tools which will continue to help the patient reach their full recovery. If you wish to find out more about how your workers compensation is affected by Trump policies, then call us now.

  • Posted on: Jun 30 2022
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Can Illegal Immigrants Receive Workers Comp

When an injury occurs while working, the employee is entitled to workers´ compensation. These benefits cover any employee who is injured and suffers an illness related to the injury. To be eligible for the benefits from workers´ compensation, there are some requirements that must be met. First, there should be workers ‘ compensation insurance covering the employee, you work directly for the company, and you have sustained an injury at the time that you were working.

Law Governing Immigration Reform

Known as the IRCA, the Immigration  and Reform and Control Act oversees immigration in the United States. With close to 5% of the countries population being undocumented, that is a lot of unauthorized workers living within. Under the Immigration and Reform and Control Act, it makes all employers check the immigration status of all potential new hires to ensure that they are authorized to work legally. If an employer violates the IRCA law, then they could face a financial penalty of at least $10,000. This amount is on an individual basis and can quickly add up if there are several undocumented employees.

There have been many situations occurring where an injury occurs to an undocumented employee while working and the employer will make attempts to enforce IRCA in order to deny any benefits that may be warranted by an injury. In fact, the argument made stems around the fact that the employee is not legally authorized to work for the employer, so they feel they are not obligated to provide benefits.

What Do The Individual States Say?

There are quite a few states who have written laws that permit undocumented workers to obtain benefits from workers´ compensation. These laws are governed under a statute that specifically outlines employees who are undocumented. A few of the states that implement statutes include Texas, Colorado, Tennessee, California, Arizona, North Carolina, and Hawaii.

With immigration being a huge factor, there is always something going on that gets covered by the news. Not only that, but legislation may come up again where immigrants working illegally will become barred from obtaining workers´  compensation.

In times that are even more recent, the issues of immigration were brought up when Central Americans reached the border. Because of this, many residents of a town decided to prevent  government buses carrying the immigrants to make their way through town.

Another instance occurred in 1999 when a Supreme Court ruling in Virginia ruled that no workers compensation may be obtained by undocumented workers if they sustain injury. Because of this, many employers decided to back laws that supported undocumented immigrant workers and their ability to obtain benefits. With that, it is clear that many attempts have been made to make it illegal to provide workers compensation benefits to a worker who is undocumented. However, the laws in each state continue to be the same.

Conclusion

There is a lot to know about immigration and the fact if an undocumented worker is eligible for benefits. That is why you should contact us to go over what your state laws say about it. This way you will be more informed about what course to take.

  • Posted on: Jun 15 2022
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