Risk & Safety Tips from the ILLINOIS PUBLIC RISK FUND IPRF.com ISSUES MARCH 2021 Vol. 20, No. 2 • Bi-Monthly Issue ILLINOIS PUBLIC RISK FUND 3333 Warrenville Rd. Cost Control Through Cooperation Since 1985 Lisle, Illinois 60532 INSIDE THIS ISSUE: Covid-19 and Mental Health . 2 PEDA and Workers’ Comp Benefits . 3, 4 HURT ALERT: Salt Truck Auger . 4 Spring IPRF Legislative Watch List . 5 Is Opioid Accessibility Fueling Addiction? . 6 IPRF Risk Reminder: 3 Point Contact . 7 IPRF Announcements . 8 IPRF Claims & Loss Control Directory . 8 Illinois Springtime Beauty WHAT COVID-19 IS TEACHING US ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH Pandemic anxiety, depression and isolation gives us a taste of what employees face in overcoming a work injury. Americans have come a long way in better understanding and appreciating mental health and its important role in maintaining activities of daily living. This is especially true now, as we struggle to cope with a pandemic that has just started to loosen its grip on our way of life. With a third of Americans showing signs of clinical depression over the past two months and two-thirds of adults reporting more stress now compared to this time last year, living with anxiety, depression, loss, isolation and fear has become a major problem for many. For those concerns early on so injured workers can receive a true of us in the workers’ comp industry, we are getting a taste severity score to determine what needs to be addressed of the psychosocial effects many injured employees face throughout the claim. during their recovery. “Case managers often play a role, similar to a detective, in And perhaps stepping in those shoes may help the discovering what underlying problems there may be that industry further recognize the need for psychosocial could be delaying the claim,” Blue told R&I. intervention and retire old stigmas regarding mental health and claims management. I was recently And, as coronavirus continues to ramp up anxiety and encouraged to see Risk and Insurance publish an article psychosocial concerns in injured employees, Blue says that focuses on the “7 Mental Health Myths — and Why that early case management intervention can make all the They Matter in Workers’ Comp.” The detailed piece difference in the world in closing claims on time. During features leading industry experts who discuss the most this pandemic, we’ve seen numerous examples of how common misconceptions regarding mental health in our case managers helped address anxious workers’ industry that, when not correctly addressed, lead to delays concerns to ensure they continue to progress through in claim duration and return to work. their claims. Uncovering the Myths So, as we all continue to adapt to an uncertain and, often, fearful world, we’ve begun to walk that mile in the injured Chief among these is that psychosocial concerns need employee’s shoes. Here’s hoping we complete this only be addressed in those injured employees with pre- journey with a better understanding of how much mental existing mental health disorders. As Mariellen Blue, health impacts overall health and well-being. National Director of Case Management Services at Genex Services, points out in the article even minor injuries can Could psychosocial issues be the cause of your delayed bring on symptoms of anxiety and depression in claims? Learn how Genex case management can help otherwise mentally stable individuals. So much so, that keep your injured employees on the path to recovery. some psychologists have nicknamed this type of Article compliments of: adjustment disorder “broken bone depression.” https://www.genexservices.com/ Another long-standing myth in workers’ comp is that mental health concerns drive up claims costs and delay return to work. However, as Blue notes in the R&I article, though there is often a connection between high claims costs, delayed return to work and mental health, many of 24/7/365 CLAIMS those who subscribe to this myth have the connection backwards. Depression isn’t causing the inability to REPORTING return-to-work; it’s the inability to return-to-work that causes the depression. “Work really defines who you are as a person. It gives you purpose in life. When that’s taken away from you, depression is something that can set in,” Blue said in the article. Illinois Public Risk Fund Early Recognition Leads to Better Coping Which leads to another myth referenced in the piece, that mental health can’t be approached from a preventative 1-844-522-6082 standpoint. In fact, early case management intervention Email: [email protected] has been successful in better addressing mental health Page 2 PEDA THE INTERSECTION Public Employee OF PEDA & WORKERS’ Disability Act COMPENSATION BENEFITS When an employee injured in the line of duty whether the employee may also sustains an injury recover workers' compensation benefits when she is while “on the job,” already eligible for benefits under PEDA? Subpart (d) most commonly, specifies that during the period of disability, any salary the employee seeks counsel for a workers’ compensation compensation due the injured person from workers' claim, while the employer looks for the name and compensation or any salary due her from any type of telephone number of its insurance agent so its workers’ insurance that may be carried by the employing public compensation carrier can be notified. When the injury is entity “shall revert to that entity during the time for which suffered by a public employee, workers’ compensation is continuing compensation is paid” under PEDA. not the only avenue an injured worker, and the employer of Furthermore, any person with a disability receiving an injured worker, should consider. compensation under the provisions of PEDA is not entitled Both public employers and employees in the State of to any benefits for which she would qualify because of her Illinois should be familiar with the Public Employee disability under the provisions of the Illinois Pension Code. Disability Act (5 ILCS 345/1 et seq.; “PEDA”). PEDA See 5 ILCS 345/1(d). provides that any part-time or full-time public employee is The framework of PEDA is designed to prevent an injured eligible to receive benefits for injuries suffered on the job. employee from “double dipping” so that she cannot Specifically, PEDA defines an “eligible employee” collect both PEDA benefits and workers’ compensation as follows: benefits, or receive benefits under the Illinois Pension [A]ny part-time or full-time State correctional officer or Code, at the exact same time. Otherwise, an injured any other full or part-time employee of the employee could recover PEDA benefits, which covers the Department of Corrections, any full or part-time entire amount of an injured employee’s wages for a year. employee of the Prisoner Review Board, any full or And, that same public employee could recover workers' part-time employee of the Department of Human compensation Temporary Total Disability (“TTD”), which Services working within a penal institution or a State typically covers 2/3 of the injured employee's wages. The mental health or developmental disabilities facility result would be a financial “windfall” to the injured operated by the Department of Human Services, and employee. To be clear, however, receipt of PEDA benefits any full-time law enforcement officer or full-time does not perpetually prohibit an employee from receiving firefighter, including a full-time paramedic or a workers' compensation benefits. An employee can receive firefighter who performs paramedic duties, who is TTD from workers’ compensation after the year of PEDA employed by the State of Illinois, any unit of local benefits has been exhausted. government (including any home rule unit), any State supported college or university, or any other public entity granted the power to employ persons for such purposes by law. See 5 ILCS 345/1(a). Subpart (b) of PEDA provides that whenever an eligible employee suffers any injury in the line of duty that causes her to be unable to perform her duties, she “shall” continue to be paid by the employing public entity on the same basis as she was paid before the injury, with no deduction from her sick leave credits, or compensatory Although PEDA inhibits the ability of an injured public time for overtime accumulations or vacation. The time- employee from double dipping, it does not conflict with limit for benefits under PEDA is one year. An employee of workers’ compensation in all respects. While PEDA will the Department of Corrections or the Prisoner Review only cover wages, workers’ compensation benefits will Board working within a penal institution or an employee of also pay for medical or rehabilitation treatment. Also, the Department of Human Services working within a while an employee collecting PEDA benefits cannot work departmental mental health facility only qualifies for (with or without monetary compensation), an employee benefits under PEDA if the injury is “the direct or indirect can still collect partial workers' compensation benefits if result of violence by inmates of the penal institution or she is able to return to work in a reduced/limited capacity. residents of the mental health or developmental Another important aspect of PEDA benefits involve their disabilities facility.” tax treatment by the IRS. PEDA benefits are not subject to See 5 ILCS 345/1(b). income tax. The IRS understands that state and local Of course, the question arises when a public employee is government employees, such as police officers and Page 3 PEDA & WORKERS’ COMPENSATION, CONT. firefighters, may receive payments due to an injury in the line of duty under a statute that isn’t the general workers’ compensation law of a state. “If the statute limits benefits to work-related injuries or sickness and doesn't base payments on the employee’s age, length of service, or prior contributions, the statute is ‘in the nature of’ a workers’ compensation law.