Several areas needing reform are discussed: Coverage, Medical Benefits, Cash Benefits, Death Benefits, and Administration. The role of states in reform is briefly discussed, including reliance on advisory committees and the use of objective research and analysis, a strategy limited by the lack of hard evidence. The role of the Federal Government is discussed under … Read More
The case for integration of workers’ compensation with other programs includes several arguments why there is no reason to treat occupational injuries or diseases, or deaths differently than corresponding non-work-related incidents. The cause of the incident does not affect the impact on the worker. The determination of whether the incident is work-related or not consumes … Read More
The broad causes of work-related injuries (or accidents) are behavioral and environmental, although these categories overlap and both may cause particular injuries. The behavioral category includes inter alia personal indifference, inadequate knowledge, and sloppy conduct. The environmental category includes inter alia unsafe physical conditions at the workplace, such as excess speed, defective equipment, and improper … Read More
The costs of workers’ compensation for employers are examined along several dimensions. The costs as a percent as a percent of payroll increased from 0.91 percent in 1946 to 1.13 percent in 1970. Costs as a percent of payroll vary across industries and among states. For most employers, costs largely consist of insurance premiums. For … Read More
The delivery system costs of workers’ compensation (sometimes referred to as administrative expenses) include the expenses and profits of private carriers and state workers’ compensation funds, the costs for employers for administering self-insurance plans, the expenses of workers’ compensation agencies and courts, and other costs of delivering cash, medical, and other workers’ compensation benefits to … Read More
In 1972, every state but Louisiana required most employers to provide workers’ compensation benefits to their workers. There are three insurance arrangements available to private sector employers in the U.S. that are used in various combinations depending on the state: (a) purchase insurance from a private insurance carrier; (b) purchase insurance from a state workers’ … Read More
The chapter examines several organizational structures for workers’ compensation programs, including those with a single administrator, those administered by a commission or board, and those administered by a state court. Information is provided on the length of terms for administrators and their salaries. The processing of uncontested and contested claims is discussed as well as … Read More
The chapter examines attorneys’ fees, including the amount of fees permitted in each state. Other legal costs are discussed, including witness fees and costs of medical testimony. The characteristics of defendants’ attorneys and claimants’ attorneys are discussed. The conclusion briefly discusses the need for attorneys.
The chapter examines compensability of injuries, including the legal requirement in most states that the disabled worker must have a personal injury by accident that arises out of employment (AOE) and in the course of employment (COE) in order to qualify for workers’ compensation benefits. The chapter also discusses compensability of diseases, including the limitations … Read More
The chapter examines both medical rehabilitation and vocational rehabilitation. The information on medical rehabilitation includes: (1) Services provided by insurance carriers; (2) Services provided by state agencies; (3) Evaluations of the adequacy, equity, and promptness of medical rehabilitation. The information on vocational rehabilitation includes (1) VR provided by insurance carriers; (2) VR provided by state … Read More
The information on medical benefits: description of benefits include (1) limits on amount or duration of benefits; (2) the choice of the treating physician by the employer or worker; (3) regulation of medical fees, and (4) the supervision of medical care by state workers’ compensation agencies. The evaluations include brief examinations of the adequacy of … Read More
The chapter provides information on two types of cash benefits: Permanent Partial Disability (PPD) Benefits and Death Benefits. The information on PPD benefits include the effects of the statutory (nominal) replacement rates and of maximum weekly benefits on the adequacy of PPD benefits (with data on PPD benefits for all states). The discussion of PPD … Read More
Overviews of programs for disabled workers in eight countries plus international standards for work injury benefits. The introduction discusses two ground-breaking laws — the German law of 1884, which provided benefits through a government insurance fund, and the British 1897 law, which relied on employers to provide benefits. With modifications, both approaches survive to the … Read More
The chapter provides information on two types of cash benefits provided by workers’ compensation program: Temporary Total Disability (TTD) benefits and Permanent Total Disability Benefits (PTD). (Two other types of cash benefits are discussed in Chapter 9). The Information on Cash Benefits Calculation include (1) the effect of waiting periods, the statutory (nominal) replacement rate, … Read More
The information on coverage of workers and employers by state workers’ compensation laws include elective and compulsory laws, limitations of coverage to specified hazardous employment, exemption of farmworkers, domestic workers, and casual employees, lack of coverage of some public employees, exclusion of self-employed persons, and the coverage of railroad workers and seamen by federal programs. … Read More
Covers the relationship between workers’ compensation and other federal programs that provide cash benefits or medical care to disabled workers, including Social Security Disability Insurance, Federal Employers Liability Acts, Medicare, and Public Assistance. Also covers the relationship between workers’ compensation and other state programs that provide cash benefits or medical care to disabled (and in … Read More
A brief (11 page) overview of workers’ compensation, with short introductions on agencies and courts, coverage of workers and employers, compensability of injuries and diseases, cash benefits, medical benefits, insurance, costs of workers’ compensation programs and safety and health. The overview was prepared in 1972 by the staff of the National Commission on State Workmen’s … Read More
Theories of Workers’ Compensation, including economic and legal theories; Objectives of Workers’ Compensation, including prevention, income replacement, rehabilitation, and efficiency.
Examines tort suits as the remedy for workplace injuries and diseases; the problems with tort suits that initially led to Employers’ Liability Acts; and the limitations of Employers’ Liability Acts that (with a few exceptions) led to the enactment of workers’ compensation statutes.
Information on Injuries and Diseases: Frequency and Severity; Causes of Work-Related Injuries and Diseases: Consequences of Work-Related Injuries and Diseases