Comp Provider Rejects Claim Filed by Police Officer Who Later Died From COVID-19

A Missouri workers’ compensation insurance provider has denied a claim from a police officer who eventually died from COVID-19 because it ruled his exposure and death were not compensable, according to government officials and local media reports. Officer Kendle Blackburn, 55, died Dec. 28 following a lengthy bout with the virus, according to news station KY3 and a news release from the City of Lebanon. The city announced Friday that Missouri Employers Mutual, the city’s comp carrier, ruled that Blackburn’s illness and death did not satisfy workers’ comp statutes in t...