EBWC $1K NOW $5K

The passage of Senate Bill 7 changes the medical payment limit in the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation's $1,000 Medical-Only Program. The changes will impact medical-only claims with a date of injury on or after June 30, 2006.

Beginning June 30, program participants will have the ability to pay the first $5,000 in medical bills for medical-only claims with a date of injury on or after that date. In addition, as of June 30, the $1,000 Medical-Only Program becomes the $5,000 Medical-Only Program.  The $1,000 limit still applies to claims with dates of injury prior to June 30, 2006.

Please remember, you must pay medical bills as billed or in accordance with any provider agreement within 30 days of receiving the bill. It's solely the employer's responsibility to pay medical bills.

When your company wishes to remove a claim from the program, it must notify the assigned BWC claims service specialist, the managed care organization (MCO) and the medical provider. BWC will remove the claim as of the date it receives notification. The MCO will begin medically managing the claim at this point.

Please call 1-800-OHIOBWC and listen to the prompts to get answers to your questions regarding the $5,000 Medical-Only Program.  You can also log on to BWC's Web site, ohiobwc.com, click on Ohio employers, then Programs and then select $5,000 Medical-Only Program.