Some people believe that the workers’
compensation system was designed to protect workers,
but in reality, the system was created in the
early 1900s to shield businesses from lawsuits.
Ohio enacted one of the first systems, which was
negotiated by Samuel Prescott Bush, the great-grandfather
of President George W. Bush. Injured workers are
still under attack by big business that now supports
workers’ compensation reform aimed at limiting
workers’ rights.
States such as Florida, California,
and Tennessee have passed laws that diminish the
rights of workers. Lawmakers in Texas, Maryland,
and Wisconsin, who are now pondering harmful reforms
of their own, cite Florida and California as models.
Such reforms reduce benefits paid to injured workers
and limit their access to quality legal representation.
States under attack have much in
common. First, the targeted states pay some of
the highest maximum weekly benefits according
to a Texas Department of Insurance research group.
Maryland, Wisconsin, Florida, California and Tennessee
are ranked in the top-25 for benefits paid, with
North Carolina ranked 15th. Second, proponents
of reform are predominantly Republicans. In every
state under attack except Tennessee, Republicans
control both branches of the state legislature
and/or the governor’s office.
Two groups pushing reform that would
harm injured workers are the National Council
on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) and the Workers’
Compensation Research Institute (WCRI). Not surprisingly,
insurance companies employ almost 75 percent of
WCRI’s Board of Directors. These groups
are making their presence known in targeted states.
Both the NCCI and WCRI have been
known to provide biased information to lawmakers.
According to the AFL-CIO, in 2003 an NCCI spokesperson
provided erroneous information about the life
expectancy of coal miners to the state of Virginia
in support of a request for a 56 percent rate
increase for workers’ compensation insurance
premiums.
The misinformation was discovered
and Virginia reduced NCCI’s rate hike request.
The same NCCI spokesperson supported by an expert
for WCRI, along with the insurance industry, pressured
the state of Tennessee to cut permanent disability
benefits to injured workers. The two groups claimed
that a reduction in benefits would lead to reduced
premiums and even implied that high premiums were
to blame for the loss of 77,000 manufacturing
jobs in the state.
According to the AFL-CIO, WCRI is
now focused on reform in Texas, Maryland and Wisconsin
where it cites a flawed study that suggests workers
who are assigned doctors by insurance companies
are "more satisfied" with treatment
than workers who select their own doctors.
No harmful reform
bills were enacted during the last legislative
sessions in North Carolina and Georgia, but there
is concern that southern states will soon be targets
for reform. WCRI has been analyzing and writing
about North Carolina compensation laws since 1994,
which is typically the first step in its reform
efforts.
The North Carolina
Academy of Trial Lawyers, the Georgia Trial Lawyers
Association, the Workplace Injury Litigation Group,
and labor organizations are fighting to protect
the rights of injured workers, but they have limited
resources to perform research studies, educate
legislators and counterbalance manipulated information
provided by NCCI and WCRI. The best way to prevent
harmful reform is to vote for individuals who
are pro-labor. Educate yourself on candidates
in your district and vote accordingly.
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