Is Workman's Compensation a State Run or Private Insurance Program?

[GingerSnaps]

I am writing a paper on the Insurance Industry for my Economics Class and I don't know how to explain Workman's Compensation. Is it State Run or Private?

:shrug:

Any help would be greatly appreciated. :hug:

[Stephanie]

1. www.google.com

www.altavista.com

www.dogpile.com

www.yahoo.com

[Cleita]

2. Depends on the state.

State laws often insist that employers carry it. Many insurers find it a loser so then the state steps in to set up a fund. You should go to the labor board of your state and ask them questions about what laws cover your state.

[GingerSnaps]

4. My paper is due in the morning

:cry:

[Cleita]

5. I just gave you the answer.

It could be either. Now go write your paper. Google will help. Go to the State Fund site in California. There is a lot of information there.

[kdmorris]

3. It is private insurance

subject to state laws. The states make laws and "fee schedules", then private insurers cover companies. The private insurance companies then use "rules" from the states to determine how much, if any, is compensible when a claim is made.

Except in Texas.. Workman's Comp in Texas seems some sort of bizarre wild west shootout with no winner in sight. Companies can pretty much do whatever they want and Texas looks the other way.

[oscar111]

6. Isnt it a trick to force workers to accept a limit

on what they can get for injuries?

Clothed in a trick of appearing to care about the worker?

Just my surmise... plse, someone clarify the details.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

8. It isn't really a "trick," since it's not optional.

Employers have to carry workers' comp insurance. The problem with it is that though the employee is supposed to get the money automatically without having to sue the employer or even prove negligence (in other words, if you get hurt on the job you get the insurance, regardless whether anyone was at fault), the payment schedules are often pretty cheap, and sometimes the insurance companies contest whether coverage exists, or how much the employee is entitled to. So sometimes you have to litigate anyhow.

[kdmorris]

11. Yeah, the whole thing is a scam

as far as I'm concerned. Seems to me like more people have ended up permanently disabled by "Workman's Comp" than have been helped, due to the insurance company just outright denying half the claims and forcing workers to struggle for YEARS to prove their injuries.

Bush has managed to make it even worse by gutting the ergonomic standards, thereby forcing workers who are injured by repetitive stress to beg for what little they can get when companies use them up and throw them away. (Read Molly Ivins "Bushwhacked")

I think it started out as a beautiful thing (stop workers from being hurt and then cast aside with no job in sight) that has been turned into the nightmare it has become. Once the private insurance companies got into the mix (much like with health care, in general) the whole mess became more about how much money the corporations could make and less about lives not being destroyed by injuries caused on the job.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

7. Workers' comp substitutes for an employee's right to sue

the employer for negligence. Under most state laws, the employer is required to carry workers' comp insurance, which they buy from private companies. If an employee is injured in the course and scope of his employment, he can't sue the employer, but instead is automatically covered by this insurance, which usually includes such payments as medical expenses, retraining funds, and a schedule for compensation for permanent injuries (e.g., if you lose a leg you get a specific amount of money).

[H2O Man]

9. In NYS there is one exception

to the chart for figuring payment for permanent injuries. Back injuries can remain open cases as far as medical expenses go for as long as the person works at any future source of employment. So while a case can be closed and settled for the loss of an eye, leg, or arm, a back injury does not necessarily get settled, and medical payments can last for decades.

Workers Comp is much like any bureaucracy. While there may be a few employees with a partial conscience there, most treat you like a number at best. If you ever have to deal with them, having an attorney is a good idea.

[GingerSnaps]

10. Thanks all

I kind of getting what it is.

[whistle]

12. Privately run but mandated by the states because all businesses...

...must carry workman's comp and pay for it. Even so called independent contractors must be protected if they are unable to show that they carry it, then the companies who hire them are responsible for paying for it.

[DBoon]

13. In California

See: http://www.dir.ca.gov/dwc/basics.htm

Private insurance, though state regulated and state mandated.

There is a kind of "assigned risk" pool called the State Compensation Insurance Fund (SCIF). Not completely sure if SCIF is state run or why one would be insured under them.

States without Workers Comp handle workplace injuries just like any other tort (lawsuit for compensation for damages). More time consuming and the results are often unpredictable. Workers Comp provides some sort of guarenteed compensation and predictable costs for the employer.

IANAL, so verify everything I say here.

[oscar111]

14. captive consumer {injured victim} so just lower the schedules to up profit

ovr the years, steadilylower the payout scheds,

and very nice easy profits result.

Looks like basically a trick... low pay to victims ... wrapped inside an attractive wrapper... no need to sue, automatic pay... and the wrapper is to trick employees into not objecting to the whole deal at election time.

like bush taxcuts... trick is big cuts for the top... wrapped in wrapper of some cuts for middle class, to gain its acceptance/.

Even a lot of the posters in this thread have gotten lost, focusing on the wrapper's benefits. Failing to pair that with low schedules, for a bottom line of "mean trick" of low pay to the injured.

Low payout, tho automatic, doubtless costs less than the owner facing normal lawsuit losses to injureds.

You can be sure someone has carefully added up all such numbers to see who wins with and without comp.