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Coghill Seeks Speedy Workers Comp Hearings
HB 274 Would Expedite Process to Protect Claimants' Health

(JUNEAU) - Workers hurt on the job could receive faster consideration of their disputed worker's compensation claims under a bill the House of Representatives passed unanimously today.

Sponsored by Rep. John Coghill Jr. (R-North Pole), House Bill 274 is aimed at providing quick medical and financial assistance to workers who might otherwise languish in pain while waiting to have a disputed insurance claim processed on the usual schedule, he said.

"There's no good reason why a working man or woman injured on the job should be made to suffer twice from the same accident," said Coghill. "The way it stands now, they could be hurt once by the actual injury, and a second time as they are forced to wait an average of 138 days for a hearing on a contested workers' comp claim."

Under current law, an insurance company that rejects a worker's compensation claim can delay a final decision by up to 120 days, while going through the process of obtaining medical examinations or gathering other evidence. But delaying treatment of even relatively simple injuries can mean months of pain or the development of serious medical complications in the claimant, not to mention the financial consequences of having no income for up to four months, Coghill said.

HB 274 gives the state Workers Compensation Board the authority and discretion to hold expedited hearings in such cases. The bill also adds an extra layer of protection for state laborers, by requiring that that any physician performing an individual medical examination in connection with a worker's compensation claim must be licensed to practice in the state of Alaska.

"Worker's compensation insurance represents a promise to working Alaskans' that they can get prompt medical attention for their on-the-job injuries, and that they can still provide for their families while they're healing up," Coghill said. "HB 274 helps make this program work more efficiently and more humanely, and I look forward to seeing it win approval in the Senate and get signed into law."

HB 274 moves next to the Senate for consideration.

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