Nearly Half of Ohio’s COVID-19 Workers’ Comp Claims Have Been Denied

Nearly 3,600 Ohio employees have filed workers’ compensation claims saying that they contracted COVID-19 while on the job, according to the latest summary provided by the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC). The bulk of these claims (2,385) have been filed by health care employees and first responders.

As of March 31, more than 1,650 of these claims had been rejected, denied or dismissed, according to the BWC. The agency notes that communicable diseases like COVID-19 are generally not workers’ compensation claims because people are exposed in a variety of ways, and few jobs have a hazard or risk of getting the diseases in a greater degree or a different manner than the general public. 4/8/2021