Rich Lenkov Quoted in Business Insurance on Emergency COVID-19 Expansions

Capital member Rich Lenkov was quoted in a Business Insurance article discussing recent emergency legislative orders related to COVID-19. “COVID-19 Comp Expansions Could Have Significant Impact on Industry” highlighted Illinois and Kentucky as the first states to implement emergency workers’ compensation orders providing access to public-facing essential workers.

While Rich stated that the Illinois rule change makes it easier for a petitioner to prove that their condition was caused by and arose out of and in the course of their employment, he also noted “it’s important to remember that this is still a presumption and a rebuttable one so employers should still do their due diligence and investigate every workers comp claim because you can overcome the burden.”

Rich also highlighted that he anticipates challenges to these emergency amendments and executive orders in court. Many in the industry say that the emergency orders could have a significant negative financial impact on the workers comp industry.

“Illinois, in the space of 24 hours, instituted this rule that represents the most dramatic change in workers comp benefits in at least a decade, if not much longer,” Rich said.

Read “COVID-19 Comp Expansions Could Have Significant Impact on Industry.”