BILL NUMBER:  S2117

 TITLE OF BILL :  An act to amend the workers' compensation law, in
relation to providing for video conferencing technology in the county
of St. Lawrence

 PURPOSE :

To provide video conferencing technology in the workers' compensation
district offices in St. Lawrence County

 SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS :

Section 1 amends the workers' compensation law by adding a new section
138, providing for the use of video conferencing technology to
broadcast proceedings of the workers' compensation board in St.
Lawrence County.

Section 2 provides the effective date.

 EXISTING LAW :

Article 7 of the Workers' Compensation Law contains miscellaneous
provisions. There is no existing law related to requiring video
conferencing technology in the workers' compensation district offices.

              

 JUSTIFICATION :

In 2013 the Workers' Compensation Board closed its Customer Service
Center in Canton, in St. Lawrence County. St.  Lawrence is the largest
geographic county in New York State, thus the closure of this center
forced hundreds of injured employees and their representatives to
travel over an hour to Saranac Lake or Watertown.  The closure of this
office has created a huge hardship for disabled people living in
Northern New York as there is no easy access for these individuals to
obtain the assistance they need to secure their workers' compensation
benefits when they are injured. Furthermore, the administrative judge
and stenographer in Canton, who conduct the hearings, do not actually
travel to Saranac Lake or Watertown.  Instead, the hearings are
conducted electronically using teleconference facilities.

Merely permitting video conferencing technology as an alternative to
physical proceeding, however, is insufficient if no such video
conferencing technology exists at a location available to the clients
and their attorneys. Instead, this legislation authorizes the workers
compensation board to utilize any forum possessing video conferencing
ability that is open to the public in St. Lawrence County to
facilitate the broadcast of proceedings and hearings of any action
brought before the chair or the board. Permitting video conferencing
technology to be used as an alternative to actual appearances is
helpful in providing easy access to injured and disabled workers
living in rural or other areas throughout the state that are unable to
be physically present at workers' compensation hearings. However,
authorizing that all public forums are available for this use enables
this alternative to be ascertainable and actually utilized.

Video is used to effectuate timely hearing appearances by out-of-state
or remotely located claimants or health care providers. Desktop video
technology is also utilized on a pilot basis for conducting
conciliations or pre-hearing conferences with self-insured employers
or insurance carriers who may have a number of cases pending before
the Board. Expanding the use of video conferencing for securing
critical testimony of both employees and health care providers who may
offer such testimony on a case directly from their homes, private
offices or hospitals is essential. This is an important step forward
for employees whose ability to pursue a claim or defend an insurer's
attempt to reduce or terminate workers' compensation benefits is
compromised by the expenses associated with long distance travel or
other hurdles preventing the employee from physically attending the
hearing.

Assisting injured workers should be a strong goal of the state.
Requiring individuals to travel exceedingly long distances or when
they have a physical disability preventing travel is a hardship that
ought to be avoided if possible. Video conferencing enables employees
and others offering testimony in a workers' compensation hearing to
provide that testimony at virtually any setting. For the
aforementioned reasons it is imperative that this bill is enacted.

 LEGISLATIVE HISTORY :

2015-2016: S.6225 Passed the Senate.

 FISCAL IMPLICATIONS :

None.

 EFFECTIVE DATE :
This act shall take effect immediately.