New York Comp Reforms Increased Indemnity Payments, Improved Timing

Indemnity payments for injured workers increased as much as 9% from 2007 to 2014 in New York as a result of state reforms launched in 2007, according to a report released Tuesday by the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Workers Compensation Research Institute. In its 11th year of studying New York’s comp system, the institute’s latest report examined trends in indemnity benefits, medical payments and benefit delivery expenses from 2007 to 2016 for claims at different maturities, according to the study. Indemnity saw the greatest changes, according to the report, which noted that “one of the key provisions of the 2007 legislation increased the maximum weekly statutory benefit” for injured workers.