Could WC Reform Be Coming in Wisconsin?
It sounds like workers' compensation reform could be in the works in Wisconsin.
According to ABC Montana:
Lawmakers meeting this week will be looking at ways to study the workers' compensation system.
The Economic Affairs Interim Committee has been charged with reviewing the state's system amid worries that the insurance is too expensive for businesses.
The panel will review a comparison of Montana workers' compensation costs and premiums with those in 32 other states. They will also get an update from an advisory council chaired by Lt. Gov. John Bohlinger.
Posted By Dan Deuterman In Workers' Compensation Reform | Permalink | 0 Comments |
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Workers' Compensation Reform Puts Unreasonabile Restrictions on Florida injured and their attorneys
Palm Beach Post columnist Tom Blackburn, a favorite of ours at the North Carolina Workers' Compensation Law Blog, takes legislators in Florida to task for passing a new workers' compensation reform law that will make it harder for injured workers to get legal representation. The new legislation strengthens a 2003 law that established a "reasonable" fee schedule for attorneys representing injured workers. The new law strikes the word "reasonable."
In his column, Blackburn explains that by setting an unreasonable fee schedule for attorneys who represent injured people in their workers' comp claims, Florida is guaranteeing that more and more deserving people will be denied medical benefits and financial compensation.
When the fee schedule was put in place:
the percentage of claims denied by insurers rose from one-fourth to more than one-third of all claims. The percent of cases in which the injured worker appealed the denial dropped considerably...
After the 2003 law change that made it harder to fight a denial of benefits, the insurance companies began deciding that 35 percent of the employees who get hurt in Florida had only an ouchie when they broke their arm or are trying to turn a hangnail into prostate cancer or are generally malingering.
Posted By Dan Deuterman In Workers' Compensation Reform | Permalink | 0 Comments |
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Florida Governor Signs Bad Workers' Comp Reform into Law
A controversial workers' compensation reform proposal in Florida, which I blogged about last month, has become law -- and that's bad news for injured workers in the Sunshine State.
A 2003 law set extreme caps on the amount attorneys could charge for their work on workers' compensation cases. The Florida Supreme Court struck down that law as unreasonable. But five days ago, Florida Gov. Charlie Crist signed a new law that places similar caps on attorneys fees in workers' compensation cases.
Continue Reading Posted By Dan Deuterman In Workers' Compensation Reform | Permalink | 0 Comments |
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Florida Workers' Comp Reform Will Victimize Injured Workers
From Florida, yet another example of why workers' compensation reform that aims to fix a system that isn't broken is a bad idea:
The Florida News Service reports:
A recent study by the Department of Worker's Compensation found litigation has declined since the restrictions imposed in 2003, while the number of denied claims has steadily increased.
This is clearly reform that has come at the expense of injured workers, while benefitting deep-pocketed insurance companies. Now, the Florida big business lobby is pushing for further workers' compensation reform that would cap how much attorneys could earn on workers' comp cases.
As is the case in North Carolina, Florida Workers' Compensation attorneys work on a contingency basis, meaning they don't collect a fee unless they win benefits for the client. That fee is generally a small percentage of the total benefits. Legislators in Florida are considering setting the bar so low -- $1,500 max -- that workers' comp attorneys would lose money representing injured workers.
Who loses if that happens? The attorneys, yes, but injured workers are the real victims. Because they could be earning as little as $8 an hour on workers' comp cases, many attorneys will stop accepting them. And that means that people who deserve compensation and medical benefits won't get them.
House Bill 903 resurrects a 2003 bill that resulted in workers' attorneys being paid as little as $8 per hour, which the Supreme Court ruled last year was unfair to workers.
Rich Templin, spokesman for the AFL-CIO, says workers are suffering from denied claims.
"They're losing their houses; they're losing their families; their losing their ability to provide health care for their kids, and they did nothing wrong. All they did was go to work and get hurt. But, because the insurance company wants to maximize its profit, these people are paying the price."
The proposed Florida workers' compensation reform is an outrage. It would victimize injured workers all over again in the name of cost cutting. Call on Gov. Charlie Crist of Florida to veto the legilsation.
Posted By Dan Deuterman In Workers' Compensation Reform | Permalink | 0 Comments | | Share Link
Future Earnings No Longer a Factor after South Carolina Workers' Comp Reform
Workers of different ages, jobs and backgrounds can suffer from the effects of injuries in extremely different ways, right?
However, South Carolina’s governor Mark Sanford doesn’t see any difference in say, how an 18-year old, with a lifetime of future earnings ahead of him suffers as compared to a 65-year-old nearing the end of his career. He recently signed an order that will apply the same standards across the board when awarding workers' compensation disability payments. He also decreed future earnings should not be a factor when awarding payments.
This represents workers' compensation reform at its worst.
Continue Reading Posted By Dan Deuterman In Workers' Compensation Reform | Permalink | 0 Comments |
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Effort to repeal workers' compensation reforms under way in California
An initiative to repeal most of the workers' compensation reforms enacted over three years in
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Workers' Compensation reform on legislative agenda in S.C.
A recent South Carolina state audit report recommends phasing out part of that state’s workers’ compensation system.
Business leaders and lawmakers in South Carolina are using this audit to support their argument that the states workers’ compensation insurance premiums are too high. They argue the high premiums are keeping new businesses away.
Sound familiar? Similar arguments were bandied about when the N.C. legislature was considering reforming this state’s workers’ compensation system. Part of the problem with this view of workers' comp. systems is that it is almost always one-sided. Business interests have enormous amounts of money to spend on lobbying lawmakers and putting intense pressure to cut costs for business. Injured workers, on the other hand, generally do not have the resources to effectively advocate in the legislative arena. What is too often hidden in this debate is the devastating effects that cutting workers' comp. benefits have on the lives of real people.
The South Carolina legislature is looking to overhaul the state’s WC system as a whole, and this usually means trouble for injured workers. We’ll keep a close eye on what our neighbors to the south are doing and keep you updated.
Posted By Benjamin Burnside In Workers' Compensation Reform | Permalink | 0 Comments |
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Stop Insurance rate increases, vote against bill SB901
We recently sent out letters to our clients urging them to call their Congressman and Senator to reject the bill SB901 aka "the Premium Increase Act of 2007" which is working it's way through the NC State Assembly. We have received numerous calls to our office from clients who needed a clearer explanation of what this bill implies.
I found this article, Insurance rates not high enough? in the Wilmington Star online that explains the implications of this bill quite clearly. Please read it, and tell everyone you know to call their local Congressman and Senator to vote against it.
Posted By Dan Deuterman In Insurance Practices , News , Workers' Compensation Reform | Permalink | 0 Comments |
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NCATL drops official bank over workers' compensation reform
The N. C. Academy of Trial Lawyers has ended its longtime relationship with its offical bank over the issue of workers' compensation reform.
The Academy, whose membership includes more than 4,000 attorneys dedicated to protecting individual rights in North Carolina, instead has chosen SunTrust as its official bank.
Insurance lobbying groups and big companies, including Duke Energy, Progress Energy and Bank of America, are the major backers of an effort to change the state's Workers' Compensation Act in ways that would severely compromise workers' rights.
Among other things, these groups and corporations supported legislation that would have imposed a 500-week (or approximately 10-year) limit on workers' compensation benefits. Under their plan, workers who are older than 60 could only collect benefits for 260 weeks - or about five years - no matter how debilitating or severe their injuries.
Their efforts are aimed at saving big businesses money at the expense of taxpayers. They seek to transfer the cost of caring for injured workers to taxpayers and the already overburdened federal Social Security system.
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Mr. Smith Goes to Raleigh
As you know, in the summer of 2005 Senator David Hoyle sponsored the S984 bill for WC reform. The bill is backed by heavyweights such as Duke Energy, Progress Energy and Bank of America. The NCATL (North Carolino Association of Trial Lawyers) and other organizations rallied and continue to rally against it. It is exciting to also find out that within the companies that backed the bill, efforts are being made to keep people informed and proactive. The following article was taken from the Employee Advocate, a newsletter for Duke employees:
Continue Reading Posted By Grace Kanoy In Workers' Compensation Reform | Permalink | 0 Comments | | Share Link