New legislation signed by Governor Kathy Hochul as part of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 Budget gives injured and ill workers across New York State greater access to timely medical care in a broad range of medical specialties.
Effective immediately, resident and fellow physicians in programs that are accredited by the Accreditation Council on Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) are allowed to treat injured and ill workers in New York State under the appropriate supervision of faculty physicians, the same way they do for regular health insurance. This represents potentially 20,000 resident and fellow physicians, training in over 1,400 programs, at nearly 70 teaching hospitals across the state.
Additionally, the new legislation signed as part of the FY 2026 Budget amends Section 21-a of the Workers’ Compensation Law to permit workers’ compensation insurers to pay for medical treatment, without accepting liability, for up to one year, beginning January 1, 2027. Section 21-a already permits insurers to accept claims without liability for up to one year when the claim involves lost time from work. This amendment extends the provision to “medical-only” claims, which account for over 60% of all workers’ compensation claims. Extending Section 21-a to all claims will significantly help injured workers get timely medical care, avoid unnecessary claim denials and litigation, and provide swift payment for necessary medical treatment to the injured worker. The amendment also requires insurers to notify injured workers that such payments are being made and that their claim will automatically be accepted by the insurer at the one-year mark, unless the claim is controverted.
“We applaud Governor Hochul and members of the Legislature for passing this legislation, which will provide hardworking New Yorkers who are injured or become ill on the job with greater access to care,” said New York State Workers’ Compensation Board Chair Clarissa Rodriguez. “The improvements we celebrate today will make it easier for injured workers to find a health care provider near them and reduce delays in treatment. We hope this will also create a pipeline of new physicians who will become Board-certified in our system after completing their specialty training.”
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