TOM MONTGOMERY, NGU RISK MANAGEMENT
The Workers’ Compensation Reform Act of 2013 has been in place for well over a year now. As a reminder, we now have a TN Workers Compensation Administrative Court System. All workers compensation injuries occurring on or after 7-1-2014 are no longer adjudicated in Circuit or Chancery Court. Other changes were calculated to streamline delivery of benefits to injured workers and make the system more efficient.
A major provision of this Act is that it provides for significant fines against employers and carriers when various deadlines are not met. A few examples of these fines are; failing to file new claims promptly, failing to provide a proper panel of physicians, and failing to issue timely benefits. You may recall that TNRMT conducted a webinar and sent out an information packet to all our members last year on these law changes.
We want to thank all of our members for working with us to meet these new requirements, as overall compliance has been excellent. It turns out that the Bureau of Workers Compensation allowed for a grace period before implementing these fines. This grace period has now expired.
Thus, please accept this as a reminder that we all need to continue to comply with all provisions of this statute.
We implemented new procedures and forms to allow us to make a timely decision as to compensability. This enables our claims staff to deliver benefits timely and in compliance with the Act.
Please refer to the hyperlinks provided herein for details of the law changes, potential fines, and the procedures we have implemented to help us all avoid the fines.
Thank you all for working with us so diligently with these very significant law changes.
Please contact the TNRMT or SEC workers compensation claims department with any questions or for further clarification.