N.Y. Workers’ Comp Board Embraces E-Claims

The New York State Workers’ Compensation Board will move from a paper filing system to an electronic system for the employer reports of injury, starting early next year.

The Board will use the IAIABC (International Association of Industrial Accident Boards and Commissions) Claims Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) Standard Release 3.0. At the moment, the Board accepts New York-specific claims data from employers and insurers through paper submission. But beginning in early 2013, these submissions will be required to match the IAIABC standard and they will have to be made electronically. “E-filing will reduce system waste and increase efficiency, while injured workers will receive their benefits faster,” said the Board’s executive director Jeffrey Fenster.

More than 30 states use or are planning to use the IAIABC EDI standard. Most national insurers already use it. The Board will implement the electronic reporting in phases beginning with those carriers that use IAIABC EDI in other states.

W.C. Surcharge Cost Burdens N.Y. Employers

The assessment surcharge tacked onto workers’ comp costs for New York employers is becoming a burden for businesses, a new study says.

The surcharge in New York State is 20.2 percent — more than double that of the second most expensive state in the nation, which is Minnesota, at 8.9 percent. It’s also five times greater than the 4.2 percent average assessment levied by 32 states that impose these assessments.

Such assessments are basically a tax on workers’ comp premiums and are used by states to fund the system, according to the study from The Workers’ Compensation Policy Institute. Over the last two years, New York State raised the surcharge by 10.4 percent and 27.5 percent, the study also said.