If you are a healthcare professional or have a loved one who has contracted coronavirus from a workplace exposure and suffered severe complications, you may be eligible for workers’ compensation.
There are other federal laws that deal with short-term layoffs or quarantines and workers’ compensation and unemployment benefits.
COVID-19 Workers’ Compensation Coverage in Kentucky
Kentucky Employer’s Mutual Insurance Company (KEMI), which provides workers compensation coverage for 20,000 businesses in Kentucky, says medical personnel and first responders are covered for lost pay due to quarantine and from contracting a disease due to their job.
“According to KRS 342.0011(1), workers’ compensation insurance benefits already included coverage for employees who contract a communicable disease due to the increased nature of their employment, however KEMI’s action expands coverage benefits to include the quarantine period for first responders and medical personnel,” a company statement said.
Families and loved ones of many healthcare workers who have died from coronavirus are asking if those deaths will be covered by workers’ compensation.
Early studies have shown that 10-20 percent of all coronavirus cases involve healthcare professionals and first responders.
The Bryant Law Center is currently reviewing cases where healthcare professionals such as nurses, healthcare aides, hospital employees, physicians, nursing home employees, and ambulance personnel have been exposed to coronavirus in the workplace and then became seriously ill or died from the virus.
Free Consultation and Case Evaluation
Were you compelled to work without proper personal protection equipment, or forced to work and contracted the virus, despite it being prevalent in the workplace? Did your employer fail to implement testing after the virus surfaced in the workplace or was testing immediately offered after Coronavirus was detected in your workplace?
Different states have different standards. Some states make it difficult to file a claim for COVID-19 while other states like Kentucky are moving to expand coverage for medical professionals and first responders.
Call the Bryant Law Center at (270) 908-0995 or message us via our online chat or submission form below for a review of your case. There is no charge for your initial consultation and evaluation of your case.
