According to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, almost a quarter of workers’ comp claims filed by Fort Worth first responders between January 2024 and March 2026 were denied by Third-Party Administrator (TPA) Sedgwick Claims Management Services, Inc.

Other first responders report delays and obstacles to care because, in their view, the city’s provider network is inadequate and because Sedgwick refuses to approve care (both in-network and out-of-network). First responders have reportedly resorted to paying out of pocket and utilizing private insurance as Sedgwick allegedly kept adequate treatment out of reach.

In a social media post, a Fort Worth City Council Member declared “war on Sedgwick,” whose contract with the city expires this year.

Fort Worth’s first responders echo concerns from labor groups, providers, and advocates like daisyBill, condemning Sedgwick’s persistently poor performance, legal non-compliance, and overall mistreatment of injured workers and the providers who treat them.

As the nation’s largest workers’ comp TPA, Sedgwick has an outsized impact on comp systems nationwide. According to many on the front lines of care, that impact has been decidedly negative.

Sedgwick Inspires Ire in Texas

According to the Star-Telegram, Fort Worth city employees filed 2,402 workers’ comp claims from January 1, 2024, to March 17, 2026. Of those employees, 1,399 were police or firefighters. Sedgwick denied 341 of those 1,399 claims, a 24% denial rate.

Nearly 90% of claim denials for Fort Worth city employees were for police and firefighters (daisyNews cannot independently verify these figures). However, other first responders with accepted claims also struggled to get the care they needed, including:

• Firefighter Caleb Halvorson: After a roof collapsed on him during a fire, Halvorson waited months for orthopedic treatment, claiming that in-network providers lacked the necessary expertise to treat his injuries and seeking Sedgwick’s approval for out-of-network orthopedic surgery.
• Police officer Bobbie Sanchez: After being struck by a criminal suspect, Sanchez claimed that no in-network oral surgeon could treat her injuries. Sanchez ultimately paid out of pocket; Sedgwick reimbursed her only after a ten-month battle. Sanchez claims to experience continuing pain for which physical therapy is necessary, but Sedgwick stopped approving the therapy.
• Police officer Diane Sims: Having sustained multiple on-duty injuries before her retirement as a sergeant, Sims claimed Sedgwick repeatedly denied her primary physician’s referral to a pain management specialist.
• An unnamed 16-year police veteran told the City Council that after years of Sedgwick treatment denials, he used his personal insurance to get treatment.

According to the Star-Telegram, Sedgwick does not maintain the city-run provider network, Blackstone; however, Sedgwick administers all claims for city employees.

In response to firefighter Caleb Halvorson’s ordeal, Fort Worth City Council Member Charles Lauersdorf publicly ripped into Sedgwick, posting on social media that he was “declaring war on Sedgwick” and decrying the “bureaucratic bullshit that leaves injured firefighters and police officers fighting two battles: one on the job and one at home.”

Following the backlash, Halvorson’s treatment was approved.

According to two members of the Texas House of Representatives, Jared Patterson and John McQueeney, Lauersdorf’s post and the outrage it stoked were critical; the pair reportedly claimed in a statement that without Lauersdorf’s public shaming of Sedgwick, “it is likely that Caleb would not have received the care he needed.”

Fort Worth First Responders Are Not Alone

For years, daisyNews has chronicled Sedgwick’s persistent noncompliance with state workers’ comp laws and regulations. Its website once boasted of derailing 54% of all treatment requests to create a “return on investment” for clients (such as the city of Fort Worth).

New York’s Transport Workers Union (TWU) Local 100 described Sedgwick as “predatory” and a “menace” to injured workers, with TWU Local 579 introducing a resolution accusing Sedgwick of abuse, disrespect, and mistreatment. The resolution passed unanimously.

daisyNews has reported on (and formally reported to the state) hundreds of thousands of instances of provider abuse by Segdwick, including:

• Failing to pay doctors at fee schedule rates for injured workers’ treatment
• Imposing invalid “network” discounts based on inapplicable or non-existent discount contracts
• Improperly denying  providers’ appeals against incorrect payments 

As providers grow fed up with Sedgwick’s behavior, many are exiting the system altogether, leaving workers’ comp networks with fewer and fewer providers.

This private equity-backed TPA is the largest workers’ comp TPA nationally, with an industry footprint that affects countless employers, injured workers, and healthcare providers. No other payer has Sedgwick’s size and influence, yet it is marked by technical mediocrity and an apparent disregard for legal requirements.

A payer of Sedgwick’s size has a unique level of obligation to system stakeholders. Unfortunately, Sedgwick consistently fails to demonstrate that it’s worthy of such a responsibility.

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