Workers’ Compensation Benefits Decrease
Workers' compensation regulations enacted in 2005 have cut permanent and injured workers' disability benefits by about 50%, according to a report released Thursday by the Commission on Health Safety and Workers' Compensation, the Sacramento Bee reports.
The report examined 3,500 workers' compensation cases and an additional 3,500 recently filed claims. An analysis of those cases showed a 7% to 30% savings from the law in permanent disability costs.
Previous studies by the insurance industry and advocates for injured workers found benefit cuts of between 7% and 60%.
Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez (D-Los Angeles) called on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) to revise workers' compensation rules.
The Schwarzenegger administration said it has no plans to rework the system until the Division of Workers' Compensation completes an analysis of the benefits this summer (Chan, Sacramento Bee, 2/11).