1-6-2021; The Great Pandemic of 2020 Continues--Will There Be An Extension of the Rebuttable Presumption?; Tracking the End of the Pandemic--GET SHOTS!!!; Passages and more
/Synopsis: The Great Pandemic of 2020 Continues. Update on IL WC Rebuttable Presumption for First Responders from John P. Campbell, Jr., J.D.
Editor’s Comment: Our IL Governor briefly extended the Emergency Proclamation through January 10th and may do so again until the vaccine(s) stem the tide of Covid-19 infections. The question for Workers’ Compensation observers is whether the rebuttable presumption of work-related infection carries into the new year.
Our research came across an updated Corona Virus Disaster Proclamation dated 12/11/20; according to the proclamation, it is to be in effect for 30 days or through January 10th. We can expect similar proclamations to be issued while Illinois and other states struggle to control Corona Virus spread and implement the vaccine to achieve herd immunity. We all look forward to the day these emergency proclamations end and we can ditch the masks and take in a ball game. In the interim, what does all this mean for workers’ compensation claims or more specifically, claims of workplace Covid-19 infection under the Occupational Disease Act?
Even though the Emergency Proclamation was extended to January 10th, we did not read anything in the Proclamation which addressed last year’s amendment to the Occ Disease Act and specifically, there is nothing (yet) to suggest the rebuttable presumption of workplace exposure will extend beyond December 31, 2020. Pursuant the amended Statute from last year:
(4) The rebuttable presumption created in this subsection applies to all cases tried after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 101st General Assembly and in which the diagnosis of COVID-19 was made on or after March 9, 2020 and on or before December 31, 2020.
It is our reasoned impression that this bracketed timeframe for the rebuttable presumption of workplace exposure/diagnosis was designed to coincide with the Governor’s original disaster proclamation. However, the Statute language cited above compels a hard end to this rebuttable presumption with the arrival of this New Year. We reckon the Petitioner’s Bar will argue for an extension of this presumption but until our IL State General Assembly acts, we will argue no such rebuttable presumption continues to exist for any alleged Covid workplace infection or diagnosis in 2021.
Please note, this can change with the stroke of a pen, in retroactive fashion by our State Legislature, just as it did last year. For this reason, it is critical for employers to remain vigilant in compliance with CDC and IDPH recommendations for PPE use and increased precautions to limit spread of Covid-19 in the workplace in order to rebut the presumption of workplace exposure.
This article was researched and written by John P. Campbell, Jr. Feel free to contact John about its content at JCampbell@keefe-law.com. Please also reply or otherwise contact the defense attorneys at KCBA for further guidance on building your defense to work-place Covid-19 claims.
Synopsis: Tracking the End of the Great Pandemic of 2020—Get the Shots!! It Will Be Certain to End and We Can Burn the Masks!
Editor’s comment: There is no current issue more important to U.S. Business and the Workers’ Comp Community. I again urge everyone of you to demand the vaccine for you and your work-place and use it when it is available to you and your work-force. As I have advised, if your workers refuse, I don’t recommend discipline or termination—if you aren’t sure why, send a reply.
As of today, At least 4,836,469 people in the United States have received a dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, far short of the goal federal officials set to give at least 20 million people their first shots before the end of December 2020. If you do the math, at present, around 1% of U.S. citizens have been vaccinated. We have to do better, everyone!
The U.S. government said Tuesday that it had delivered more than 17 million doses to States, territories and federal agencies. There is more to come as vaccine manufacturers continue to work hard to get their product to market. The shipments, which came after a record-setting race to develop, study and approve a vaccine, have marked a turning point in the global Pandemic when deaths and cases continue to set records.
U.S. Federal health officials recently acknowledged the vaccine rollout had had a slower-than-expected start and said they did not have a clear understanding as to why only a portion of the doses shipped across the nation had made it into our arms. The C.D.C. reported 429,066 people in nursing homes and long-term-care centers had been given shots through a federal program, though more than 3.2 million doses had been distributed for those facilities. Deaths in those facilities have accounted for more than a third of the total coronavirus deaths in the country for most of the Pandemic.
Federal regulators have given emergency approval to vaccines developed by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna. Both vaccines require patients to receive two doses spaced about 21 days apart. In addition to allocating vaccines to States, territories and some federal agencies, the C.D.C. also distributes doses to three small countries that have special agreements with the U.S. government: Palau, Micronesia and the Marshall Islands.
Most of the first vaccines have been given to front-line medical workers and nursing home residents. The C.D.C. said that its data might lag. This table shows how many shots have been distributed and given in the five States KCB&A covers:
Name
Pct. of people given a shot
Doses distributed
Shots given
Doses used
Iowa
1.9%
120,175
60,137
50%
Indiana
1.5%
355,825
100,487
28%
Illinois
1.4%
538,300
176,586
33%
Wisconsin
1.2%
266,675
67,398
25%
Michigan
1.0%
478,800
99,040
21%
Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Every State was granted an amount of the vaccine roughly in proportion to its population. Some states, like Alaska, North Dakota and Utah, are supposed to receive supplements for tribal governments that have elected to receive their vaccines through the state, rather than through the federal Indian Health Service.
According to the federal data, South Dakota, West Virginia and North Dakota had administered the most doses per capita among states, and Kansas had administered the fewest.
The work to distribute the vaccine comes at one of the darkest points of the pandemic. More than 355,000 people in the United States have died after contracting the virus. The numbers reflect a national rollout of first doses that began in December — the first step toward protecting residents from a virus that continues to devastate the country.
“Watchers”—the Phenomenon of Folks that are Worried/Afraid to Insure They Are Protected via and/or from the vaccine. What I Am Hearing From Clients and Friends--I don’t want the shots—it hurts and might injure me more!
Do you like dining in the cold? Do you enjoy having to go back to your car to get the dopey mask? Do you understand hundreds of millions across the globe will receive the shots and will be rendered healthy and safe?
I have a number of friends and readers who are not willing to get the vaccine to insure they can’t be infected and, at some point, not infect others. Please note one of the oddest issues of Covid-19 is you can have the disease and not have any symptoms or know you might be spreading it. If you get the shot, odds are you aren’t going to get Covid-19 and at some point, won’t be able to transmit the disease you can’t get to others.
Most “watchers” are waiting due to concerns a COVID-19 vaccine is tied to confidence in testing and development process. There is no question those who would get COVID-19 vaccine are more trusting of human testing and drug development process.
I have extensively researched it and I cannot locate a single fatality due to the use of any vaccine currently approved or otherwise in development. Across the globe, hundreds of thousands of people have been tested.
Overall, 19% of the U.S. public has a great deal of confidence the research and development process in the U.S. will produce a safe and effective vaccine for COVID-19, while another 45% say they have a fair amount of confidence. About a third (35%) say they have not too much or no confidence in this process.
Among those who say they would definitely or probably get a vaccine, more than eight-in-ten express either a great deal (30%) or a fair amount (54%) of confidence in the research and development process. By contrast, 55% of those not planning to get a coronavirus vaccine say they have not too much or no confidence at all in this process.
I want to go to a restaurant and eat at a table inside. I want to throw away the dopey masks and have my kid safely at a schoolroom being a kid. We are all in this together, folks!!!—please get your shots and press others to do so too.
I appreciate your thoughts and comments. Please post them on our award-winning blog.
Synopsis: Passages
Editor’s comment: I/We salute former Arbitrator Anthony (Tony) Erbacci who decided to take his pension rather than continue doing solid work as an IL WC Arbitrator. I didn’t always get the nod from him in contested claims but I can always say, he carefully listened and was a consummate professional. He will be missed.
The defense team at KCB&A also salutes the passing of Attorney Arthur Phillips, may he rest in peace. He was a fixture at the IL WC Commission for decades. He was a past President of the Illinois Workers' Compensation Lawyers Association and was highly regarded for both his legal acumen and his quick wit. Art was well regarded by those who practiced with him, including me. He was a solid advocate for his clients. Mr. Phillips was an Eagle Scout and a veteran of the U.S. Army.
Synopsis: Looking for New WC Defense Business in the Midst of the Great Pandemic!
Editor’s comment: As we start the New Year, the amazing defense team to KCB&A is looking for great clients who need defense help in the five States we handle—IL, IN, IA, WI and MI.
We are the only defense firm I know of that has adjunct Law Professors who taught workers’ comp law to lots of lawyers, risk managers and claims handlers and others.
We have strong recommendations for physicians/surgeons, nurse case management, surveillance operatives and others to fit the needs of your claims.
We are approved for defense work with all major WC insurance carriers.
We close defense files faster than any other firm I have ever seen—if you can tell us how to close files even faster, we will do it!
If you have interest in being represented by the top WC legal defense firm in the States listed above, send a reply or call Gene Keefe at 312 907 8226.