NPR recently conducted a news investigation titled “More from Insult to Injury: America’s Vanishing Worker Protections,” and around the same time the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) published a report “Adding Inequality to Injury: The Costs of Failing to Protect Workers on the Job.” These both got me thinking about the tightening of purse strings when it comes to injured workers collecting their benefits. Both the news investigation and the report indicate how broken our country’s workers’ compensation system truly is, and how important it is to have someone on your side to help you navigate this troubling system.
Colorado Workers’ Compensation and more
The workers’ compensation system is intended to help protect …show more content…
• Where a worker gets hurt matters. Because each state has developed its own system, an amputated arm can literally be worth two or three times as much on one side of a state line as on the other.
• Many states have not only shrunk the payments to injured workers; they've also cut them off after an arbitrary time limit — even if workers haven't recovered.
• Employers and insurers increasingly control medical decisions, such as whether an injured worker needs surgery. In 37 states, workers can't pick their own doctor or are restricted to a list provided by their employers. (Colorado offers a method to select a different doctor if needed.)
Judges even seem to think current workers’ comp benefits are not adequate. One Florida judge in August of 2014 ruled that the Florida Workers’ Compensation Act was unconstitutional and that law the “fails miserably” when it comes to workers’ safety, health, welfare, and Morals. Florida Workers’ Advocates v. State of Florida, Case No. 11-13661 CA 25 (or Padgett v. State of Florida). The case specifically looked at the Act’s exclusive remedy provision, which provides that workers’ compensation benefits are the only remedy when hurt on the job. Florida has eliminated, as of 2003 amendments, all compensation for permanent partial disability, which means your impairment …show more content…
OHSA realizes that workplace injuries and illnesses create income inequality because they end up forcing working middle class families into poverty, and keeping lower-wage workers and their families from entering the middle class. Furthermore, according to OSHA’s report, employers only provide about 20% of the overall cost of workplace injuries and illnesses through workers’ compensation. So, who is responsible for the other 80% of costs associated with the injury or illness? It appears to be the injured workers, their families, and taxpayers who are subsidizing the vast majority of the costs of these injuries according to
Colorado Workers’ Compensation and more
The workers’ compensation system is intended to help protect …show more content…
• Where a worker gets hurt matters. Because each state has developed its own system, an amputated arm can literally be worth two or three times as much on one side of a state line as on the other.
• Many states have not only shrunk the payments to injured workers; they've also cut them off after an arbitrary time limit — even if workers haven't recovered.
• Employers and insurers increasingly control medical decisions, such as whether an injured worker needs surgery. In 37 states, workers can't pick their own doctor or are restricted to a list provided by their employers. (Colorado offers a method to select a different doctor if needed.)
Judges even seem to think current workers’ comp benefits are not adequate. One Florida judge in August of 2014 ruled that the Florida Workers’ Compensation Act was unconstitutional and that law the “fails miserably” when it comes to workers’ safety, health, welfare, and Morals. Florida Workers’ Advocates v. State of Florida, Case No. 11-13661 CA 25 (or Padgett v. State of Florida). The case specifically looked at the Act’s exclusive remedy provision, which provides that workers’ compensation benefits are the only remedy when hurt on the job. Florida has eliminated, as of 2003 amendments, all compensation for permanent partial disability, which means your impairment …show more content…
OHSA realizes that workplace injuries and illnesses create income inequality because they end up forcing working middle class families into poverty, and keeping lower-wage workers and their families from entering the middle class. Furthermore, according to OSHA’s report, employers only provide about 20% of the overall cost of workplace injuries and illnesses through workers’ compensation. So, who is responsible for the other 80% of costs associated with the injury or illness? It appears to be the injured workers, their families, and taxpayers who are subsidizing the vast majority of the costs of these injuries according to