Workers’ Comp Reforms Threatened

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A new report on California’s highly contentious system of compensating workers for job-related illnesses and injuries proves that the systemic overhaul pushed through the Legislature by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2004 continues to save employers many billions of dollars each year.

The latest annual report by the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau says that in 2007, California employers paid $13.2 billion in premiums for workers’ comp insurance, $10 billion less than they were paying three years earlier. And that doesn’t count the lower costs of large employers who self-insure for workers’ comp, about another $5 billion less.

What pleases employers, however, grates on disabled workers, medical care providers, labor unions and workers’ comp lawyers because that’s money out of their pockets. And Democratic lawmakers, many of whom voted for the 2004 overhaul that tightened eligibility for medical treatment and payments, want to partially undo it.


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