The Future of Claims: Thoughts from Administrative Law Judges on the Impact of COVID-19 in Workers’ Compensation
In this webinar recording, Paul Sighinolfi, Ametros’ Senior Managing Director, moderates a panel of three experienced workers’ compensation ALJs, discussing the impact of COVID-19 on the future of Workers’ Compensation systems and how state adjudicatory communities have adapted.
Hear from:
- LuAnn Haley, an Arizona ALJ and Board Member of The National Association of Workers’ Compensation Judiciary
- Douglas Gott, Kentucky’s Chief WC ALJ
- Joseph DeRita, ALJ and Director of Workers’ Compensation Adjudication in Pennsylvania
Listen to the recording to hear a discussion on the following topics:
- COVID-19’s impact on claim processing.
Are there more or fewer claims being filed and processed? Do COVID-19 claims fit within state occupational disease laws or are they traditional exposure
causing an injury claim? Has there been a spike in mental injury claims and claims associated with workers overly protecting themselves? - How state systems are adapting.
In person mediations and hearings have been suspended and replaced with remote appearance technology. What do the judges think of this adaptation? The
medical community has quickly adapted to a telemedicine model. What is the judicial assessment of this? - The pandemic’s impact on settling cases.
Cases are still settling. Does finding the settlement in the injured worker’s "best interest" mean something different today than it did before the pandemic? Are
settlement terms changing, for example, are there more structured settlements?
