Asking Insurers to Help Workers on COVID Claims Raises Eyebrows

When the New York Workers' Compensation Board chairwoman posted a letter this month urging insurance carriers to bird-dog injured workers' medical documentation in COVID-19 claims, it struck some as odd. Asking insurers to advocate for claimants, especially workers without counsel, is not unlike the proverbial fox guarding the henhouse, one claimants' lawyer said. Another called it “boneheaded.” Board officials have said the letter is one way in which the agency is trying to move COVID claims along, and that it also communicates directly with claimants when m...