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FLASH REPORT:
September 27 2001
WORKERS' COMP JUST START OF BENEFITS FOR TERRORIST VICTIMS
Dependents of victims in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks will receive
benefits far in excess of the usual New York workers' compensation payments,
and officials this week were struggling to sort out the hundreds of millions
of dollars in state, federal and charity contributions lined up so far.
New York State Attorney General Eliot L. Spitzer announced today that he
will set up a database so each of the 140-some charities contributing to
victims' families know what the others are doing. In addition, yesterday the
New York State Workers' Compensation Board voted yesterday to waive the
usual requirement that survivors present death certificates to apply for
benefits.
Spitzer's spokesman, Darren Dopp, estimated that charities have raised $500
million for victims' families so far, including $115 million raised by the
United Way and $202 million by The American Red Cross.
Congress plans to contribute even more survivor aid on top of the state and
charity assistance. An airline bailout bill signed into law by President
Bush this week includes a provision that grants compensation to families
that agree not to sue the air carriers.
House Resolution 2926 gives broad authority to a special master to be
appointed by U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft, but does not appropriate a
specific amount of money and does not state how much each family will
receive. The bill does, however, instruct the special master to consider
other survivor benefits, such as life insurance or workers' compensation,
when determining the amount of each award.
A spokesman for the House Budget Committee said the bill authorizes
unlimited funding for death benefits. The Office of Management and Budget is
formulating rules to determine how much each family will receive.
California --NEWS:
Veto Likely on SB 71
Even advocates believe Gov. Gray Davis will sign the sweeping benefits bill
sent to his desk, but state officials say legislative negotiations may point
to things to come.
State Fund Mail Tossed Out With the Trash
A mail clerk with the State Compensation Insurance Fund pleads guilty to
charges that she tossed out more than 1,000 pieces of mail.
World Trade Center Attack Aftermath
Experts are unsure what effect the terrorist attack will have on California
workers' comp system, but risk managers are rethinking catastrophic
coverage.
Hispanic Fatalism Increasing
Workplace fatalities are decreasing in California and the nation, but the
U.S. has seen a disturbing rise in deaths among Hispanic workers
U.S. Dept of Labor Postpones Ergonomics Plan
The U.S. Department of Labor announced this week that, in the wake of the events of 9/11, the Department will temporarily postpone the announcement of a plan of action on ergonomics.
The announcement, which was expected this month, will be made later this Fall.
In July, the Department conducted three forums in Virginia, Illinois and California, to solicit public comment on ergonomics. Witness testimony and written comments are under review.
Members of the Department's Occupational Health
and Safety Administration have been heavily involved in the rescue and recovery
efforts at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon during the past week, which
has prevented the Department from devoting full attention to this important
issue.
Australian Work Comp Woes
Australian workers’ compensation has been in the news lately with a host of their own problems, not related to the demise of Australian based carrier HIH Insurance.
It was announced last week that teams of Work Cover inspectors will target contract cleaners and clothes manufacturers as part of a crackdown on bosses who evade paying their workers compensation premiums. Work Cover is a State Government agency.
The package of measures includes three new taskforces of inspectors and investigators with the power to levy fines of up to $55,000 on bosses who are cheating the system.
By making employers "pay their way" the State Government is trying to arrest the spiraling deficit in the Work Cover scheme which currently stands at $2.18 billion.
The crackdown includes more than doubling the number of employer wage audits to 12,000 per year.
In other news, it was announced that legal action was being taken against Work Cover for the failure of that entity to properly process the workers’ compensation applications of more than 1000 injured workers.
It is claimed the government agency did not properly process common-law damage claims for serious workplace injuries. These claims should not have proceeded in civil court, or “Full Court”, but rather should have been processed as workers’ compensation claims.
Some applications have already been deemed invalid by the Full Court, which found Work Cover wrongly based its approval for claims to be heard in court on medical opinions and many insurers are now using the ruling to lodge writs against Work Cover to quash decisions which supported claims going to court.
The Supreme Court is receiving one to two writs a week to overturn Work Cover decisions, and these will be decided in early October.
Now, it may be too late for most claimants to relodge applications because of regulations requiring claims be made within five months of the accident.
WorkCover denies any wrong doing, stating that it was the responsibility of claimants and their lawyers to provide the correct information when lodging a claim.
Sources: Perth Sunday Times and The Daily Telegraph (Sydney)
Source: WorkCompCentral
Florida Defense Attorneys Paid Most per Claim
Workers' compensation claim costs grew significantly in Florida in the late 1990s, according to a study by the Workers Compensation Research Institute.
The study reported that claim costs rose nearly 9.5 percent in 1998, the latest year with available data, following several years of double-digit increases. The 11.7 percent average yearly increase in Florida from 1996 to 1998 was the highest of the eight states in the WCRI study (Florida, California, Connecticut, Georgia, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Texas and Wisconsin).
The institute said that a 13 percent jump in indemnity benefit costs -- payments to injured workers for lost-time -- was a major factor behind the overall increase. Medical payments per claim also rose, but at a slower pace, increasing 4.7 percent from 1997 to 1998. Other factors behind the increase in claims costs include a growing percentage of claims with lump-sum settlements and permanent partial disabilities.
The study found that Florida is among the most litigious of the eight large states studied. About 30 percent of claims with more than seven days of lost time involved defense attorneys in Florida, a 9% increase for claims with 24 months' experience since 1994. Defense attorney expenses also are highest in Florida at more than $ 2,600 per claim.
Forum & Message Board - Notes & Quotes:
- Sheri - "Injured workers
everywhere want the same results, a fair and just workers' comp.
system, adequate and fair benefits. Police departments use good cop bad cop
in dealing with offenders and maybe we can learn from their tactics. With
some elected officials, we do need to be more outspoken or we will only get
paid lip service but there will be no action. The business sector and
the chamber is aggressively lobbying Congress and our State Legislatures, to
make sure that workers are not given to much, and unless we can counter with
our own very strong arguments about how Workers' Comp. is destroying lives,
we will continue to lose ground to the other side. Again, we need each
other and we need to encourage injured workers everywhere to get involved,
to take a stand and that all of us can make a difference if we choose
to."
- Mike - "After a 5 year battle my case has
come to an end. Nothing special about the settlement, in fact it followed
state set guidelines almost to a tee. We suffered through the hard times
with the help of all who have shared with me over the last few years. We
planned and plotted and shared some pretty heated conversation. The website
is a product of everyone involved caring for the lives for injured
workers."
- ggcstubbs - "I can tell you one of the reasons people don't help themselves is that they don't think they can do anything to change things for themselves or others. Many suffer from chronic situational depression that becomes worse as time goes on. I'd like to see counseling become a part of the whole starting process. Counseling by a disinterested 3rd party where the sessions would be kept between the WPI (work place injured) and the therapist. I believe that a lot of people would adjust more readily to how the system works and recover if they were given psychological help in the beginning before chronic depression sets in. Also evaluation by a disinterested 3rd party for physical complaints would also be helpful."
September 2001 FLASH REPORTS:
TRADE CENTER ATTACK HAS SELF-INSURED WORRYING ABOUT WORKERS' COMP RISK
With 400 firefighters and police officers possibly killed in the Tuesday's
collapse of the World Trade Center, public safety agencies have recognized a
potential financial disaster if faced with a similar tragedy.
George Appel, deputy chief of the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District,
said he instructed the district's insurance broker to shop for catastrophic
workers' comp insurance on Thursday after realizing the staggering potential
cost of multiple workers' compensation claims. Appel's fire district sent a
65-member urban search and rescue team to New York City to help in the hunt
for survivors of the terrorist attack.
"You've got to insure yourself for some of this exposure," Appel said.
Appel is president of the Council of Self Insured Public Agencies. He said
members of the organization will discuss the potential of catastrophic
workers' comp losses during its annual meetings, to be held in Fairfield on
Nov. 1 and in Long Beach on Nov. 8.
For more information about the issue, read the Sept. 26 issue of the
California Workers' Comp Advisor.
FLASH REPORT:
Aon Still Searching for Missing Workers
Aon Corp. has not been able to account for 200 of 1,350 employees who were
in Lower Manhattan during Tuesday's attack on the World Trade Center, CEO
Patrick G. Ryan said during a conference call Friday afternoon.
The insurance broker owns Cambridge Integrated Services Group, a
third-party workers' comp administrator for many California employers.
Ryan said 1,100 Aon employees were permanently stationed in World Trade
Center Tower No. 2, and another 250 were visiting the tower on business or
were stationed in other nearby Lower Manhattan offices.
Aon has opened a crisis center for employees in Manhattan and on Monday will
open more centers in other locations, Ryan said. The company has also set up
an assistance fund for the families of employees who were killed or injured
and is matching donations dollar per dollar.
FLASH REPORT:
DEMOS OFFER SB 71 COMPROMISE
The Senate and Assembly on Friday passed legislation to reduce the cost of
a benefits-increase bill now on Gov. Gray Davis' desk, but it remains to be
seen whether Democratic lawmakers went far enough to avoid another veto.
Amendments added to Assembly Bill 1176 remove some impediments to
managed-care networks, reduce the cap on vocational rehabilitation spending,
limit retroactive life-pension benefits to claims filed no earlier than 1998
and require the Workers' Compensation Division to create a fee schedule for
outpatient surgery centers.
"The amendments move in the direction the governor was interested in moving
in," said Steve Smith, director of the Department of Industrial Relations.
"I have no idea whether they moved far enough and whether this will
therefore bridge the gap between legislative leadership and the governor."
A Republican legislative consultant pooh-poohed the amendments. The
Democratic amendments removed a requirement that Health Care Organizations
receive state certification, but HCOs will still be forced to make dual
offers of coverage, said the staffer.
The amendments also reduce the potential cost of retroactive life pensions,
which were estimated by the Workers' Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau to
potentially cost $3 billion. Nevertheless, Republicans said the post-1998
claims are likely to still cost the industry $1.5 billion.
And that, as they say is -30-
