Count the us among the many groups and individuals who are
applauding the final workers’ compensation compromise that was
hammered out last week and signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on
Monday.
Count the us among the many groups and individuals who are applauding the final workers’ compensation compromise that was hammered out last week and signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Monday. The state’s workers’ comp insurance system definitely is broken, and most experts believe the latest reforms will reduce the inflated premium costs by as much as 30 percent each year.
The new governor succeeded where the previous one failed, by gaining real concessions from organized labor, business groups, attorneys and medical providers. That applicant attorneys, who reap grand rewards by turning marginal disabilities into permanent disabilities, are the main group angry by the new law is actually is a good sign.
That said, it’s anyone’s guess whether the reforms will provide needed structural changes rather than temporary relief. Other complicated fixes to this and other problems have ended up in disappointment, or have created unforeseen consequences – sometimes those consequences are worse than the original problem.
This is the fifth workers’ compensation reform package to pass in 22 years, and few analysts believe it will be the last.
The real problem with workers’ compensation is the system itself. It is a government-mandated system that features complex state rules governing various private parties. The system, whose U.S. origins date to nearly a century ago, was designed as a no-fault system, to move away from the costly process by which employees injured in the workplace sought recourse by suing their employers. The system also aimed to relieve state taxpayers from providing for the care of injured workers and their dependents.
But over the years the system became as convoluted as government systems typically become, complete with a money-losing state fund, and no lack of attorneys involved in the process.
All that said, the final reform is about as good as one could expect, given the political realities in Sacramento.
– Orange County Register
