Weight Gain and Workers Comp.

Report: Workers’ comp costs may rise as obesity is labeled a disease.

As obesity becomes an even bigger problem in our country certain things may change. Obesity affects a persons ability to work to their full potential with periodical fatigue and sickness brought about from their weight problem. Because of this and the American Medical Association’s decision to classify obesity as a disease these rates may increase

Costs of workers’ compensation claims could jump following the American Medical Association’s decision to classify obesity as a disease, according to a report from the California Workers’ Compensation Institute. Workers’ comp costs typically include only what is treated with expectation of reimbursement, the institute said, but that could change “if medical providers feel a greater responsibility to counsel obese patients about their weight — especially if there is a greater likelihood that they will be reimbursed for doing so — or if treatment for a compensable injury causes significant weight gain,” the institute says