Denials of Workers’ Comp Claims Jump in North Dakota

A review of North Dakota’s workers’ compensation program shows claim denials jumped between 2005 and 2009.

Still, the review found claim practices were generally sound.

In the reviewed period, denied claims rose from 6.9 percent in 2005 to 10.4 percent in 2009. The reviewers said the increase was due to more workers reporting conditions expected to worsen in the future, so there’d a record of the problem.

Workforce Safety and Insurance deputy director Clare Carlson says a lot of injuries were reported that didn’t have to be.

The review was done to inform state lawmakers, and it made recommendations to improve the program, including lowering the threshold for awarding permanent partial disability and increasing use of independent medical examiners.