The Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation’s Joint Committee of Agency Rule Review is looking at a proposed rule that would allow the bureau to reimburse for behavioral tests for injured workers who are experiencing barriers in their road to recovery.

Certain things like negative thinking, poor coping skills, lack of motivation and other barriers to recovery may impact an injured worker’s return to work. The proposed rule would set up reimbursements for counseling and coaching sessions for workers.

According to the draft of the rule an injured worker would be eligible for a health and behavior assessment and intervention (HBAI) if their primary physician determines they are not progressing in their recovery after the initial course of treatment, and if the delay seems like it’s due to behavioral barriers.

A spokeswoman said that the bureau is not talking about mental illness and other psychological disorders, but instead talking about emotional responses that happen to a lot of people who are recovering from a serious injury. The goal of the counseling and guidance services would be to address those before they potentially turned into something more serious like prescription abuse or depression.

The reimbursement rule would cover one initial health and behavioral assessment, and then up to six hours of intervention sessions a year. The rule was approved by the Board of Directors and could go into effect as early as this summer.

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