The Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation will be implementing rule changes that will affect a vast number of claims.
The first change concerns the length of time a claim has no activity before the claim is considered "inactive." This time period has been doubled, from one year to two years. This is important because claims designated as "inactive" must be administratively "re-activated" before the BWC or its managed care organizations will process new requests for medical treatment approvals. This change should result in more expediant processing of medical requests, while reducing administrative costs at all relevent levels.
A second change concerns the payment of scheduled loss awards to claimants who have lost the use of limbs or suffered amputation injuries. The BWC has paid such awards in the past over an extended period of time, ranging from a few weeks to years. With this change, all such awards will be paid in a single lump sum payment.
These changes were brought about by the efforts of the BWC and the Ohio Association for Justice (OAJ). The OAJ is comprised of Ohio attorneys, including Polofka & Van Berkom, who represent injury and disability victims.