A recent annual report shows the number of Ohio workers’ compensation claim hearings are down slightly from prior years, and that hearings are quickly scheduled. Ohio employers should be encouraged by this trend, but be reminded that claims must be quickly investigated to allow adequate time to prepare for contested hearings. The Industrial Commission of Ohio released these statistics in its FY2017 annual report.
The Commission reports that, across all regions, 456 claims were heard by its hearing officers per day on average. This is a decrease from fiscal year 2016, when 514 claims were heard per day on average. The Columbus Region was far and away the busiest region during the 2017 fiscal year, with 36,988 total claims heard. This is a 10% decrease from last year, when the Columbus region had 40,920 total claims heard. Cleveland was second with 24,495 total claims heard, and Cincinnati was third with 21,059 total claims heard. District level (first level) hearings represented 70% of overall hearing volume across all regions.
The reason for the decrease in the amount of claims cannot be stated with certainty, though it may correlate somewhat to the reduction in the amount of new claims approved by the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation in FY2017. The BWC approved 86,920 new claims, a decrease of 1,880 claims from FY2016. The BWC attributes the decrease in allowed claims to factors including workplace safety, education and prevention programs by employers and the BWC.
However, employers should be aware that contested hearings are being quickly scheduled and adjudicated by the Industrial Commission. The Commission maintained filing-date-to-hearing-date averages well-below the 45 days mandated by law. District level hearings averaged 31 days, while staff level hearing appeals averaged 33 days. The Commission attributes this achievement to the efficiency afforded to employers and injured workers by implementation of the Industrial Commission Online Network (ICON). According to the report, 30% of hearing documents were submitted using ICON during the 2017 fiscal year.
These statistics reinforce the need for employers to quickly investigate and prepare for Industrial Commission hearings. If an employer questions the validity of a claim or issue, it should quickly investigate, and work with its third party administrator and attorney to review and prepare for an expected hearing.
The full FY2017 report can be found on the Industrial Commission’s website at: http://www.ic.ohio.gov/news/annualreport_pdfs/ic_annualreport_2017.pdf.
Attorneys at FHKAD routinely advise and defend employers in workers’ compensation claims before the Industrial Commission and in Court. For more information, call David Riepenhoff at (614) 221-1216 or email driepenhoff@fishelhass.com.