And it's clear from that article that we could be in for another battle over workers' compensation if the political climate in North Carolina changes, particularly if Republicans preserve their majority in the N.C. General Assembly and gain control of the governor's mansion in the next election.

“The bill does not go as far as business-interested groups would like it to go, and it’s likely they will revisit the issue again in the future, but I think they will wait for the political climate in the state to change before doing so,” said Trey Gillespie, Austin, Texas-based senior workers compensation director for the Property Casualty Insurers Assn. of America.

North Carolina’s House and Senate have Republican majorities, while Gov. Perdue is a Democrat.

Our Democratic governorm, Bev Perdue, has proven herself a committed advocate for working people, and she's been shown incredible courage in not bowing to political pressure, most recently by vetoing the budget presented to her. North Carolina workers need a needs an advocate like Gov. Perdue on their side, and we need the balance that a Democratic governor provides. 

The insurance industry is waiting for the day when Republicans control the N.C. House, Senate and governor's seat. If that happens, they'll push through another workers' comp reform bill that likely will be even worse than H709. Injured workers and their families will suffer mightily if that happens.

Don't let that happen. Give your support to candidates like Bev Perdue who really do care about workers' rights and who will fight for them, despite the political consequences.

The consensus bill, which resulted from hours of negotiations between parties on both sides of the issue, "preserves the backbone of our workers' compensation system that pays fair compensation to injured workers at a reasonable cost to the employers," said Dick Taylor, president of the N.C. Advocates for Justice.

"Many may feel that the bill does not go far enough to reduce costs and others will feel the provisions fall short of protecting the interests of injured workers, but in times such as these all sides made compromises," he said.

The compromise version of the bill has a few key differnences from the original bill.

The definition of suitable employment now takes into account a worker's vocational skills, education and experience.

The compromise version also makes it easier for injured workers to seek a second medical opinion.

In addition, the new bill restricts the insurers' and employers' access to a workers' medical records. Instead of allowing unlimited access and communication with health care providers, now they may have access to medical records related to the work related injury IF they are paying for the treatment.

The 500-week cap on benefits remains in place, but there are exceptions.

"Workers would be able to qualify for 'extended compensation' if they can prove that they have 'sustained a total loss of wage earning capacity,' according to the News & Observer.

While the compromise bill is not perfect, it is much better than the original workers' comp bill. This is a bill that we support, and it is balanced in fairness to injured workers and employers.

The N.C. House Select Committee on Tort Reform meets Thursday (May 12), and it's possible that members will vote on the bill during that meeting.

For that reason, it's crucial that you once again contact members of that committee and your own elected officials in Raleigh to tell them not to support this bad legislation. If House Bill 709 passes this committee, it's very likely that it will become law. Find contact information for the Tort Reform committee here, and find out how to contact your representatives in Raleigh here.

The N.C. Advocates for Justice, Protect NC Workers and other workers' rights groups have been working very hard to defeat this legislation. Yesterday, a group representing workers met with key business leaders in the state for 12 hours to reach consensus on key workers' compensation issues. Our friends who were in the meeting report it was productive, and they are planning to draft a consensus bill to replace H709 and S544.

However, Rep. Dale Folwell, the primary sponsor of H709 still intends to present his original bad bill during tomorrow's Tort Reform Committee meeting.

Members of this committee need to hear from our side about this issue. We can't let Rep. Folwell present his bill unopposed. And Folwell needs to hear that people are opposed to this bill. Contact him TODAY!

So, I'm asking you to once again call members of the Tort Reform Committee. You can find their Raleigh phone numbers here. Please don't wait. CALL TODAY!

And if you're able, please plan to attend Thursday's hearing in Raleigh. We need a huge showing of opposition to defeat this bad bill.

The committee meeting is scheduled for 11 a.m. Thursday (May 12) in Room 1327 of the Legislative Building, 16 W. Jones St., Raleigh.

Thanks again for doing your part to protect North Carolina workers.

The proposed legislation would strip injured workers of their rights and protections and eliminate medical choice and privacy while putting insurance companies in control of the workers' comp system in our state.

For the sake of every working person in North Carolina, we have to stop this bill from becoming law.

Take the time TODAY to contact your elected officials in Raleigh.

Call, email and write to the sponsors of House Bill 709 and Senate Bill 544.

The senate version of the bill was sponsored by Sen. Harry Brown (R-Jones), Sen. Tom Apodaca (R-Buncombe) and Sen. Jim Davis (R-Cherokee).

Cosponsors are Stan Bingham, Debbie Clary, Don Ease, Ralph Hise, Neal Hunt, Jean Preston, Bill Rabon, Bob Rucho, Richard Stevens and Tommy Tucker. Access their contact information here.

For your convenience, here's contact information for the primary sponsors of S544. Contact them and tell them why this legislation is a bad idea for North Carolina workers, the economy and business.

N.C. Senate Bill 544 Sponsors

Sen. Harry Brown (R-Jones)
Phone: (919) 715-3034 or (910) 347-3777
Email: Harry.Brown@ncleg.net
Address: N.C. Senate
300 N. Salisbury Street, Room 300-B 
Raleigh, NC 27603-5925

Sen. Tom Apodaca (R-Buncombe)
Phone: (919) 733-5745 or (828) 696-0574      
Email: Tom.Apodaca@ncleg.net
Address: N.C. Senate
16 W. Jones Street, Room 2010 
Raleigh, NC 27601-2808

Sen. Jim Davis (R-Cherokee)
Phone: (919) 733-5875 or (828) 369-2054     
Email: Jim.Davis@ncleg.net
Address: NC Senate
16 W. Jones Street, Room 2111 
Raleigh, NC 27601-2808

Learn more about this workers' comp reform legislation and learn what you can do to protect the rights of North Carolina workers at ProtectNCWorkers.com

Fellow attorney Jesse Shapiro, an ally in the fight against workers' comp reform, has created an easy way for voters to speak out on this important issue. He's created an online petition that will be sent to Gov. Bev Perdue, as well as members of the N.C. House of Representatives and the N.C. Senate.

I encourage you to add your name to the petition. Your letters, phone calls, email messages and this petition will send a strong message to our elected leaders in Raleigh that the people of North Carolina do not support this bad bill.

Christensen's article outlines how much power the Blue Dogs wield when it comes to contentious issues. They also are key in upholding or overriding the governor's veto.

On the issue of workers' compensation, it's important for constituents to reach out to these conservative Democrats to educate them about the impact that "reform" will have on injured workers, worker safety and taxpayers in North Carolina.

The so-called Blue Dog Democrats could be key in defeating the insurance industry's efforts to strip workers of their rights.

See below for the full text of the N&O article. The article also has links to the contact information for various influential legislators in the N.C. General Assembly.

The crucial players in this session of the state legislature, we are learning, are the House's Blue Dog Democrats.

Democratic Gov. Bev Perdue may propose budgets. And House Speaker Thom Tillis and Senate leader Phil Berger may lay claim to the Republican mandate of last year's legislative elections.

But as we found out last week, nothing becomes law unless Jim Crawford, a merchant from Oxford, says so. Or unless William Brisson, a tobacco farmer from Dublin, gives it his OK. Or if Dewey Hill, the owner of convenience stores in Whiteville, doesn't agree. And so on.

The Republicans control the legislature, but they fell four votes short of winning a veto-proof majority in the House.

Which means that if Perdue decides to get out her veto stamp, the Republican leadership has to persuade four conservative Democrats to vote with them to override.

Last week they failed to do so and weren't able to override a Perdue veto on a bill that would have had North Carolina join 27 other states in a legal challenge to the federal law overhauling the health care system that Congress passed last year.

This puts the Blue Dog Democrats in the catbird seat for the rest of the session. They can decide what bills become law and what budget can pass.

A more seasoned, savvy House leadership team might have brought some of the conservative Democrats into their coalition from the beginning of the session, providing them with a veto-proof majority.

But the House Republicans seem allergic to coalitions - having spent the last decade condemning Republican Rep. Richard Morgan for entering into a co-speakership deal with Democrat Jim Black. Or perhaps they thought they didn't need the Democrats after their electoral sweep in November.

But coalition politics are how bills become laws.

The Republican strategy last week was to send a lot of e-mail and phone messages into the Blue Dogs' districts saying they were helping Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid destroy jobs if they voted to uphold Perdue's veto. That blunt strategy, not surprisingly, didn't attract a single vote to the Republican cause.

Meanwhile, Perdue, a politically weakened governor, is growing stronger every time she vetoes a bill, helping win back the Democratic base she so desperately needs.

The Blue Dog Democrats are now in a position to deal. If the Republicans don't want to bargain, they will watch their entire legislative program - except for constitutional amendments and redistricting, which are not subject to vetoes - go down to defeat.

If any of the Blue Dogs need a road repaved in their districts or if a constituent needs a job with the state, now would be the time to ask the governor.

And Crawford might remind folks that Oxford, N.C., is one of the few Oxfords in the world that isn't home to a college campus.

rob.christensen@newsobserver.com<mailto:rob.christensen@newsobserver.com> or 919-829-4532

According to the article at Property Casualty 360:

Workers' compensation insurers have seen net written premium shrink 23 percent from 2007 to 2009, with millions of layoffs in the ongoing economic downturn taking a toll on insurable exposures, the chief executive of the National Council on Compensation Insurance reported here.

Workers' comp written premiums have been disproportionately affected by the economic downturn's impact on the construction and manufacturing sectors, said Stephen Klingel, CEO of NCCI Holdings Inc., speaking at the organization's Annual Issues Symposium.

"The workers compensation insurance industry had a trying year in 2009," said Mr. Klingel. "And a series of unknown factors--from the pace of economic recovery to the long-term impact of the new federal health care law, among others--leave the line in a precarious position and facing a host of challenges moving into 2010."

 

No wonder the insurance industry is trying to prop up its profits by stripping workers of their rights. As we've said before, the insurance companies stand to profit tremendously from workers' comp reform, particularly if they're able to pass a draconian bill that would anihilate the rights of workers, as they are proposing in North Carolina.

Now more than ever, it's important to speak out against any changes to workers' compensation laws in North Carolina. The insurance industry has millions riding on this proposed legislation, and they'll do everything in their power to protect their profits.

Our legislatrs need to know the real motives behind this legislation, and they also need to hear that their constituents don't support these changes. If you haven't already done so, contact your elected officials in Raleigh today about this important issue.

The bill, which we expect to be introduced in the N.C. General Assembly before April 6, not only cuts off compensation for lost wages and medical treatment after 9 years but it also strips injured workers of their right to choose their treating physician and gives insurance companies and their attorneys unfettered access to workers' private medical records.

Rep. Dale Folwell (R-Forsyth) is one of the rumored sponsors of the bill. It's imperative that all voters in North Carolina contact him IMMEDIATELY to voice their opposition to this legislation. We must make our point loud and clear. Voters won't stand for stripping workers' rights just so insurance companies can profit. Please don't wait until a bill has been introduced. Contact Rep. Folwell and your elected officials in Raleigh today.

Representative Dale R. Folwell

NC House of Representatives

300 N. Salisbury Street, Room 301F

Raleigh, NC 27603-5925

Dale.Folwell@ncleg.net<mailto:Dale.Folwell@ncleg.net>

(919) 733-5787 (Raleigh office number)

Thanks to our friends with the Professional Fire Fighters and Paramedics of North Carolina for sharing the following details about the draft bill:

This pending bill would turn the current system on its head by giving the insurance company complete control over medical treatment. First, they would get to choose the treating physician (and while the worker could change treating physicians once in the case, his "choice" would be limited to choosing from one of a group of three or more doctors chosen by the insurance company!). Then the treating physician would have to get prior approval from the insurance company for every single referral and recommendation.

And, to make matters worse, the insurance company and defense attorney would be able to talk to our client's treating physician without our prior knowledge or consent. On top of that, the current version of the bill would allow the insurance company to stop an injured worker's total disability benefits on the grounds that the injured worker failed to cooperate with medical treatment-- even if he or she hasn't previously been ordered to comply with medical treatment.

And that's just the part having to do with medical treatment. Additionally, the current draft of the bill artificially caps benefits at 500 weeks (with only a few exceptions for very seriously injured workers). And it completely does away with the requirement that a proffered job pay somewhere near what the pre-injury job paid.

if this bill becomes law it will:

1. Take away an injured workers' right to choose their own physician, and take away their right to ask the Industrial Commission to approve a treating physician of their own choice;

2. Take away all of their medical privacy rights by allowing the insurance company (and the insurance company's attorney) to talk to the employee’s doctors without their prior knowledge or consent;

3. Let the insurance company cut off their compensation based on the claim that they aren't cooperating with medical treatment;

4. Artificially cut off their compensation after 500 weeks without regard to whether they have wage-earning capacity; and

5. Require injured workers to take a job that pays a lot less than they were making when they got hurt.

 

However, the insurance companies seem to think that with Republican leadership in the N.C. General Assembly, they'll easily be able to pass this legislation.

We'd like to encourage all registered Republicans to attend the upcoming GOP party county conventions to speak out against workers' comp reform. Elected officials need to know that Republican voters don't support this insurance industry bailout that would severely limit workers' rights. Elected officials need to hear that their constituents expect them to Protect N.C. Workers.

If you live in Forsyth County, please attend the Forsyth County Republican Convention and precinct meeting TODAY.

Saturday, March 5, 2011

West Campus of Forsyth Tech

1300 Bolton Street,

Winston-Salem, NC 27103

Registration begins at 8:30 a.m., and the meeting runs from  9:00 a.m. until 10:15 a.m.

The Guilford County Republican Party has its convention scheduled for 7 p.m. March 14 at Vandalia Christian School Auditorium, 319 Pleasant Garden Road. The convention is open to credentialed delegates only.

In the video, Berger talks about the threat to workers' rights if workers' comp reform passes. He also notes that big business and the N.C. Chamber of Commerce are behind the push to strip North Carolina workers of their rights.

"If we stand still, we will lose this battle," Berger said. "The leadership right now has made a commitment to the Chamber to roll back worker rights."

Insurance companies want to cut off workers' compensation after 9 years and shift the cost of caring for injured workers to taxpayers. Even for people who are paralyzed or comatose because of their workplace injuries. Even for people who can never work again.

But you can stop it from happening. Visit ProtectNCWorkers.com for more information, then call, write or email your elected officials in Raleigh. Tell them to VOTE NO on workers' compensation reform.

Members of the N.C. House Select Committee on Tort Reform wield tremendous power on workers' comp reform legislation pending in the N.C. General Assembly. They're also key decision makers in legislation like the proposed Senate Bill 33, which would limit the rights of patients injured by medical malpractice. For your information, that bill sets an arbitrary cap of $250,000 on medical malpractice damages for disfigurement, mutilation, loss of limb, paralysis, pain, suffering and death.

Find out more about the misguided attempt to reform workers' comp in North Carolina at ProtectNCWorkers.

Members of the House Select Committee on Tort Reform include 

Chairman Rep. McComas

Chairman Rep. Rhyne

Vice Chairman Rep. Crawford

Vice Chairman Rep. Lewis

Vice Chairman Rep. Moffitt

Vice Chairman Rep. Murry

Members Rep. Barnhart, Rep. Brisson, Rep. Carney, Rep. Dockham, Rep. Dollar, Rep. Gillespie, Rep. Hill, Rep. Jackson, Rep. McGrady, Rep. McLawhorn, Rep. Mills, Rep. Owens, Rep. Parfitt, Rep. Parmon, Rep. Randleman, Rep. Samuelson, Rep. Stam, Rep. Weiss.

Contact information for all committee members is available here.

The insurance companies want to shift the cost of taking care of injured workers to taxpayers.

Learn more at ProtectNCWorkers.com and tell your elected officials in Raleigh to VOTE NO on this bad bill.

Do you part: Visit ProtectNCWorkers.com and tell your elected officials to VOTE NO on workers' comp reform.

The insurance industry is behind a bad bill, soon to be introduced in the N.C. General Assembly, that would slash workers' rights and shift the cost of caring for injured workers from insurance companies to taxpayers.

Learn more at ProtectNCWorkers.com and tell your elected officials in Raleigh to Vote No On Workers' Comp Reform.

They do a good job of explaining what's at stake and how this thinly veiled insurance company bailout will negatively impact injured workers.

The rights of workers in North Carolina are at risk unless we ACT NOW to defeat this legislation.

Peoples will pay with their lives and their livelihoods.

For a lesson on what could happen in North Carolina if we cap workers' comp benefits at 500 weeks, we need only look to our neighbors in Virginia. The state has a 10-year cap on benefits, and its law has one particulary heinous loophole that makes it impossible for an injured worker to collect benefits if they can't remember the details of their accident.

The Roanoke Times recently published a story about Mike Gentry, a satellite dish installer who suffered a head injury after falling off a roof while on the job. Two days after Gentry awoke from a coma, an insurance adjuster asked him if he remembered the fall. He said no; at that point, he couldn't remember anything. And that's all the insurance company, Zurich North America, needed to deny Gentry's claim.

Gentry's family fought a 21-month battle to receive workers' comp benefits, with the support of his employer, an attorney and the local community. Ultimately, Gentry's claim was accepted, but given his medical problems and long-term prognosis, the 10 years of benefits that Virginia law allows him will not be sufficient to sustain his medical care or his family's expenses. The Gentry family was financially devastated during their nearly two-year fight with the insurance company.

The Gentrys story is compelling and heart-breaking. You should read the entire article; the reporter does an excellent job of capturing the frustration and desperation involved in a workers' comp claim.

No workers deserve to be treated like Mike Gentry has been treated. But North Carolina workers are in jeopardy of being put under a system just like Virginia's, where insurance companies have the upper hand. Speak out on behalf of Mike Gentry and others like him and tell your state legislators you won't stand for a system that mistreats workers for the sake of insurance company profits. Tell your elected officials to vote against proposed changes to workers' compensation laws in North Carolina.

The conclusion: Despite what tortured data from the Workers Compensation Research Institute shows, North Carolina's workers' comp costs aren't out of control -- not in terms of insurance premiums or benefits paid per claim.

In its latest report, WCRI claims the average payment per claim for injured workers in North Carolina is extraordinarily high – higher, it says, than in 15 other major states. That is misleading for a simple reason: in North Carolina, unlike other states, workers’ compensation doesn’t cover many injuries sustained in the normal work routine. We have fewer claims. And they are for more severe injuries. So, naturally, our average payment per claim is higher.

The fair measurement of workers’ compensation costs in North Carolina is straightforward: Are employers’ costs for workers’ compensation insurance out of line with other states?

We do even better in comparison with the states in WCRI’s study. Eight (California,
Illinois, Minnesota, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Wisconsin) of the sixteen states in the WCRI report have higher costs than North Carolina, and one (Michigan) has identical costs. Each of these states, according to WCRI, pays lower benefits to its injured workers. In other words, in contrast to the other WCRI states, North Carolina delivers good benefits to injured workers, at low cost to employers.

They aren’t. The cost of workers’ compensation insurance in North Carolina is, and hasbeen for years, at or near the national average. For example, four months ago a study by the highly regarded Oregon State Department of Consumer and Business Services reported that North Carolina ranks twenty-third in the nation in the average cost of workers’ compensation insurance.

We expect legislation to be introduced any day now in the N.C. General Assembly that would be the ultimate insult to injured workers in North Carolina.

The insurance lobby, big business and the N.C. Chamber of Commerce want to shift the cost of taking care of injured workers from employers and their insurance companies to taxpayers. They're proposing a 500-week limit on workers' comp benefits. That's less than 10 years -- no matter how severe the injury. Such a change would be devastating to injured workers, and it would shift the burden for caring for them from workers' comp to Social Security Disability, Medicare, Medicaid and other taxpayer-funded programs.

What's more, the insurance companies want to change the law to force injured workers to take any kind of job -- no matter the salary, benefits available or opportunities for advancement -- if they can't return to their previous job.

You'll hear lots of rhetoric from the other side that workers' comp costs in North Carolina are out of control. They also contend North Carolina is losing jobs and business recruitment opportunities because of our current workers' comp system.

Those arguments are just plain wrong. Consider these facts:

Fact: The rate -- set by the Commissioner of Insurance -- that employers pay for workers’ compensation insurance has dropped 21.9% since 1995.

Fact: North Carolina’s workers’ compensation costs are lower than South Carolina’s or Tennessee’s. (They are higher than Virginia’s but we provide substantially better benefits to injured workers.)

Fact: No injured worker can receive workers’ compensation benefits of more than 2/3rd of his or her salary.

Fact: Regardless of the pre-injury wage, the maximum benefit any injured worker can receive for lost wages is $836 per week.

Now that Republicans hold a majority in the N.C. General assembly, the insurance lobby is hoping it can rush the workers' comp reform bill through the legislature without public input or debate. With your help now, we can make sure that doesn't happen.

No matter how you vote, we hope you'll agree that the workers' comp reform bill is bad news for workers and for taxpayers in North Carolina. Don't let the sneaky insurance lobby get away with their underhanded tactics.

North Carolina voters don't support cutting workers' comp benefits to 500 weeks. Don't let the insurance companies speak for you.

NCAJ cites a 2010 Public Policy Polling poll that asked registered voters if they favored
cutting off benefits to disabled workers after 500 weeks. An overwhelming 66% of the voters said no, while only 14% said yes. "Opposition to a cap on workers’ compensation benefits cuts across both ideological and party lines. It is opposed by liberals (78%), moderates (67%) and conservatives (60%); and by Democrats (72%), Republicans (62%) and Independents (56%)."

Contact your state legislators TODAY and ask them to vote against the workers' comp reform bill. Let them know that you cannot and will not support them in the next election if they don't stand up for workers' rights. Don't wait to contact your legislators. You must act now; delay and it may be too late. This bad bill could become bad law very quickly.

The proposed reforms and the arguments in support of them are very similar to those bandied in 2005. This time around, though, the rhetoric is even more strident, with proponents referencing so-called “successful” reform measures in other states and arguing that North Carolina must follow suit or lose its ability to compete for business and new jobs. This time around, the N.C. Chamber of Commerce and the insurance lobby also view the General Assembly as more malleable to their viewpoint now that majority has shifted to the Republicans.

The big problem, however, is that the reformers’ arguments are specious.

There’s no quantifiable evidence that workers’ comp costs impact business recruitment or job creation in North Carolina.  Insurance premium rate decreases aren’t the carrot they are made to be, either. In most states that have passed reform measures, the promised premium decreases haven’t materialized for most companies, meaning that mainly insurance companies are profiting from reform.

Meantime, any “savings” realized through workers’ compensation reforms have cost injured workers, taxpayers and businesses plenty, as the expense of caring for injured workers has shifted from employers and their insurance companies to the public sector and to employers’ group health plans.

Let’s take first this argument that with our current workers’ compensation laws, North Carolina isn’t as competitive as other states. Numerous independent rankings and state job creation numbers prove otherwise. With 36,000 jobs created in the last 12 months, North Carolina ranks third in the nation for declining unemployment and fourth in the nation for job creation, according to figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the N.C. Governor’s Office.

Our state also has one of the most favorable business climates in the country, based on such important factors as state and local taxes, the size and skill level of the workforce, transportation infrastructure and living environment. For the ninth year, North Carolina was the state with the Best Business Climate in 2010, according to Site Selection magazine. In similar ratings by CEO magazine, Forbes, CNBC, Pollina Corporate Real Estate and Business Facilities magazine, North Carolina ranked second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth, respectively, for its pro-business climate. Last spring, North Carolina was also found to have the lowest state and local tax burden on business by the Council on State Taxation and Ernst & Young. 

To say that the current workers’ compensation law is costing North Carolina jobs ignores the facts. By the way, many states with lower comp costs and lower insurance premiums than ours fared worse in these independent rankings of business climate, further devaluing the argument that North Carolina must reform its workers’ comp statutes to become competitive. Our state is not only competitive in business development and job creation; it’s a national leader.

When it comes to workers’ compensation premiums, North Carolina’s, at $2.12 per $100 of payroll, are just slightly above the national median of $2.04 per $100. Businesses in 22 other states, including those that have recently passed reforms – California, Pennsylvania, New York, South Carolina, Ohio and Texas – pay higher WC insurance premiums than employers in North Carolina, according to a 2010 ranking by the Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services.

In fact, premiums here dropped 15 percent from 2008 to 2010 – without reform. Interestingly, the rate decreases in reform states California, Texas and New York weren’t as significant as in North Carolina. And decreases in South Carolina (15 percent) and Pennsylvania (16 percent) were only slightly greater than here.

One statistic reform proponents are sure to cite will be a 2010 comparison by the Workers Compensation Research Institute that showed indemnity costs per workers’ compensation claim in North Carolina were among the highest of the 16 states studied. However, this comparison is statistically invalid as it relies almost exclusively on incomplete data provided by insurance companies and self-insured employers, the same organizations that underwrote the study and will benefit from its conclusions that workers’ comp costs in North Carolina and other states are too high.

The WCRI study is based on a study of 16 large states – North Carolina, Indiana, Wisconsin, Texas, Minnesota, New Jersey, Florida, Minnesota, California, Maryland, Massachusetts, Iowa, Tennessee, Illinois, Louisiana and Pennsylvania – which it claims represent more than 50 percent of workers’ comp benefit payments. Interestingly, the WCRI makes no attempt to examine workers’ comp data for all 50 states and compile an accurate ranking of costs. Additionally, the states included in the study are battlegrounds for reform.

Moreover, WCRI’s findings emanate from a tortured use of diverse and incompatible statistics taken from 27 different data sources. Of the data WCRI collected, it excluded 42 percent as incompatible. A statistician who reviewed WCRI’s findings and methodology for the Deuterman Law Group deemed the study statistically invalid. His assessment: The WCRI study is little more than a tortured attempt to cobble together data from a large number of disparate sources and treat them as though they are meaningful.

What’s more, the source of WCRI’s data is suspect. It was provided by national and regional insurance companies, claims administration organizations and state workers’ comp funds, many of the same entities that underwrite WCRI’s research. These data providers have a vested interest in the results of WCRI’s findings. It’s comparable to pharmaceuticals companies funding drug trials.

Now, let’s take a look at aftermath of workers’ compensation reform in other states. I believe that when most voters, taxpayers and lawmakers learn the facts, they’ll say no to similar changes in North Carolina, for they can only be accomplished on the backs of injured workers and at great expense to taxpayers.

In November, several of the country’s most respected workers’ compensation experts testified before a Congressional subcommittee that workers’ compensation benefits have eroded over the last decade and states have erected barriers that make it harder to qualify. These factors, along with caps that limit how long people can collect benefits, no matter how severe their injuries, have shifted the burden of caring for disabled workers to taxpayers through unemployment insurance, Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security Disability Insurance, food stamp programs, and other social services that are already over-burdened with unemployed workers and their families.

The U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Education and Labor is so concerned about this issue that it has asked the Government Accountability Office to evaluate the extent to which state cuts in workers’ comp benefits are shifting costs to Social Security Disability and how the government might recoup some of this expenses going forward from insurance companies and self-insured businesses.

In California, workers’ comp reforms have “saved” businesses $55 billion, according to some news reports. And Florida employers’ workers’ comp premiums have dropped nearly 62 percent since reforms were enacted in 2003. But at what cost?  You can’t talk about the savings generated by workers’ compensation reform without also examining the economic costs for workers, state and federal governments and businesses generated directly as a result of these “reforms.”

A December 2010 RAND Institute for Civil Justice research report prepared for the California Commission on Health and Safety and Workers’ Compensation found that California’s “permanent partial disability benefit levels fell short of the generally accepted two-thirds income replacement level of adequacy.” Reforms cut these benefits even further and made qualifying for them more difficult, worsening outcomes for the injured workers who arguably need benefits most because they have no other income coming in.

It’s naïve to believe that workers in these states don’t need the continuing care and benefits that permanent partial disability provides. They have simply been denied them because the workers’ comp laws in their states have been eviscerated and skewed to benefit not workers and employers but insurance companies. In these states, injured employees must look beyond the workers’ compensation system for the financial and medical support they need.

Without adequate workers’ compensation coverage, injured workers are forced to find other ways to make up the shortfall in income and healthcare coverage. This burdens not only the unemployment benefits, Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid but also employer-sponsored health insurance programs. As any business owner knows, increased usage causes group health insurance rates to go up, effectively negating any savings realized from declining workers’ compensation insurance premiums.

Reforms enacted in 2007 in New York have created a scenario where cost-shifting is inevitable. While New York raised maximum weekly benefits to two-thirds of the state’s average wage (with a cap of $760), it also put an end to lifetime benefits for permanent injuries. Those benefits now expire in 10 years. According to research on poverty in America by Pennsylvania State University, $760 a week is barely a living wage for a single parent with one child in New York. That amount falls about $23,000 short of a living wage for a family of four.

 “Today, even with the payout increases, New York lags behind many states,” according to an investigation by The New York Times. “Injured workers in Iowa can get about double New York’s limit.”

Florida’s experiences provide yet another cautionary tale.

After reforms passed, denials jumped from a fourth to a third of all claims, according to reports in The Palm Beach Post, and appeals of those denials dropped, as well. Things went from bad to worse for workers when former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist signed a law capping attorney’s fees in workers’ comp cases at $1,500 – as low as $8 an hour. Tort reformers sold the legislation as a way to rein in “greedy trial lawyers.” In effect, however, it is injured workers who pay the price. Without representation, these workers are forced to accept whatever benefits insurance companies offer, if they offer them at all.

We are at a crucial juncture in workplace politics in North Carolina. If workers’ compensation reform, as proposed by the N.C. Chamber, passes, we will be taking a step back in time to an era when worker rights and worker safety were not a priority. This is a matter of public responsibility, not simply economics. And when considered in context of other costs, the promised economic benefits and gains from workers’ compensation reform don’t exist.

Among the reasons that North Carolina’s workers’ compensation system has worked so well for so many years is that it’s efficient and well managed by the N.C. Industrial Commission. It also is structured to provide good benefits to injured workers at a low cost to employers and insurers.

Unlike many other states, North Carolina has a much higher threshold for entry into the workers’ compensation system. Injured workers must prove that their injury was the result of an accident. Additionally, North Carolina’s list of compensable occupational illnesses is shorter than other states. Both keep costs in check.

We could eviscerate North Carolina’s workers’ compensation statutes, as other states have done. We could make it easier for insurance companies to deny claims. We could place limits on how long people can collect workers’ comp benefits. But in doing so, we will be providing employers with a disincentive to protect workers and to follow important safety standards.

I have been involved in many cases in which it was clear that the employer weighed the economics of safety versus productivity and chose the latter. If we limit workers’ compensation benefits, that equation will become even more skewed away from safety. In such a system, workers will pay the costs of these reforms not only with their livelihoods, but with their lives.

Many voters only vote in presidential elections, skipping midterm elections perhaps because they're too busy or perhaps because they believe that non-presidential elections aren't as important. That's simply not the case, particularly this year.

These legislative and judicial races are extremely important to the rights of working people. The N.C. Chamber of Commerce and other groups that put business interests ahead of the rights of workers are lobbying hard to get their candidates elected. Reforming the N.C. Workers' Compensation Act is at the top of their agenda, and their reforms would be devastating for injured workers, their families, taxpayers and small business owners.

Their proposed workers' compensation reforms would limit how long injured people can collect workers' compensation benefits, no matter how severe or debilitating the injuries. Other proposed changes would impact patient medical privacy and an injured worker's ability to change doctors. If these proposed changes become law, the burden of providing care and medical treatment for injured workers will shift to taxpayers.

It's very important that you VOTE, and we hope you will cast your vote for legislative and judicial candidates who believe in the rights of injured people and who will fight against workers' compensation reform. You can see the list of candidates that we support here and here.