Improving Workers’ Compensation for Workers: Another View

Posted on by

There’s a lot to debate and digest in the recent NPR/ProPublica workers’ compensation series. The Center for Effective Government has published an analysis that adds to the discussion. The piece’s catchy title is Six Charts Explain How Workers’ Compensation is Deteriorating. It points to evidence that supports the need for change that protects workers, rather than reducing business costs.

The article points out: 

  • The amount employers pay into workers’ compensation programs is at historic lows.
  • Workers’ comp is not burdening business.
  • The costs of workplace injuries and illness have shifted to workers.

I don’t agree with the author’s recommendations for improving workers’ compensation (federal preemption) but am convinced that the evidence is strongly on the side of ending the current spate of “cost reduction aka profit enhancement” proposals that show up in state legislatures annually. We should be focusing on improving the system for workers and reducing the human and economic costs for injured workers and their families.

The offices of Rehm, Bennett, Moore & Rehm, which also sponsors the Trucker Lawyers website, are located in Lincoln and Omaha, Nebraska. Five attorneys represent plaintiffs in workers’ compensation, personal injury, employment and Social Security disability claims. The firm’s lawyers have combined experience of more than 95 years of practice representing injured workers and truck drivers in Nebraska, Iowa and other states with Nebraska and Iowa jurisdiction. The lawyers regularly represent hurt truck drivers and often sue Crete Carrier Corporation, K&B Trucking, Werner Enterprises, UPS, and FedEx. Lawyers in the firm hold licenses in Nebraska and Iowa and are active in groups such as the College of Workers’ Compensation Lawyers, Workers' Injury Law & Advocacy Group (WILG), American Association for Justice (AAJ), the Nebraska Association of Trial Attorneys (NATA), and the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA). We have the knowledge, experience and toughness to win rightful compensation for people who have been injured or mistreated.

This entry was posted in Government, Legislation, Workers' Compensation and tagged , , , , .