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The Affordable Health Care Act and Workers Compensation

It's a great debate among workers' compensation carriers and underwriters. What is the effect of the Affordable Health Care Act (AHCA)on workers' compensation.

No agreement so far as to whether it will raise costs or reduce them. One school of thought has employees going through their AHCA benefits for on the job injuries. The opposing view suggests better service through the workers' compensation benefit arrangements and moving medical bills to workers' compensation.

Some predictions:

1. The ACHA will increase awareness among individuals about health care in general and the result will be greater usage of health care facilities.

2. Raising demand will tie up current health care assets and create new ones to meet demand.

3. Companies will need to arrange access to emergency health care needs to assure worker benefits are delivered.

4. Other government health care concerns will be incorporated into business response plans. Americans with Disabilities Act requirements for both employees and visitors will be fully integrated and combined to the highest level of compliance. The Family Medical Leave Act will be somehow combined into workers' compensation plans to allow the second income time to care for the first.

Whichever direction this new law pushes the workers compensation benefits, or perhaps ultimately absorbs the medical benefits portion of the coverage, businesses must be prepared to provide medical attention for their injured people.

Even the nature of illness and disease is under review. Very recently, obesity became a disease. Twenty percent excess body weight is now a disease which employers must consider in an overall health benefit decision.

Contingency planning should include first response medical attention, alternative transportation, available providers, and rehabilitation services.

A policy of light duty work requires planning before any claim.

Since the workers' compensation and AHCA begin to merge medical payments arrangements and responsibilities, business must view these traditionally separate benefits as one
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