First Responders Fight Back Against High Denials

0:00It's April 7th, from your city to your ears. This is Dallas News Today, powered by AI. I'm Cory with the story. Fort Worth firefighters and police are pushing back hard against sky-high workers' compensation claimed denials. Over the past two years, nearly all the night claims came from their departments, with a denial rate close to 25% way higher than any other city crew. Officials handle this through Sedgwick, who runs the program and greenlights medical care, but workers stick mostly to the Blackstone network of. Doctors, earlier this week, firefighter Skyler Ainsworth, a union board member, laid it out for the mayor, city manager, and public safety committee. He slammed the setup for listening too much to Sedgwick's cost-cutting ways and said human resources used to fight harder for appeals before deferring. To them now, first responders want out of these treatment roadblocks, especially since their injuries often need specialized docs not on the list. The pushback hit home, Ainsworth even called out HR director Kristen Smith, right there

1:03at the podium, saying her track record helping cops and firefighters ain't great. He argued denials actually jack up costs, like paying overtime for backfills while injure folks sit home battling paperwork. These crews hate being sidelined. They just want to give back on the job. On the city side, they're planning a request for proposals this fiscal year to shake up the workers' comp administrator gig. Sedgwick can bid again. HR's hiring two senior analysts as go-betweens to guide police and fire claims plus boosting ties with providers and Sedgwick based on employee feedback. Council members are tuning in with some demanding a direct line for trouble claims and first responders are eyeing more council muscle to speed, approvals, and loosen doctor restrictions for real fixes.