Earnings Losses and Benefit Adequacy in California's Workers' Compensation System

Earnings Losses and Benefit Adequacy in California's Workers' Compensation System PDF Author: Michael Dworsky
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Labor market
Languages : en
Pages : 130

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Book Description
Workers' compensation systems are designed to provide medical care and indemnity (or wage loss) benefits and to protect workers against medical expenses and income loss that result from workplace injury. Although most workers' compensation claims are for minor injuries that require only medical care, many workplace injuries result in temporary or permanent work disability and earnings losses that can be substantial. Patterns of earnings loss can identify which workers need more attention from policymakers. Earnings loss data are also needed to evaluate benefit adequacy or return-to-work interventions. But post-injury labor market outcomes are not regularly reported in the state of California, impeding monitoring, research, and evaluation. This final report in a series is part of a regular effort to monitor the wage losses of injured workers in the California workers' compensation system between 2013 and 2017. It updates estimates of trends in earnings losses reported in this project's three interim reports and includes analysis of the factors that have driven changes in workers' labor market outcomes from 2005 to 2017. It also provides an investigation of the reasons for regional differences (between Southern California and the rest of the state) in labor market outcomes for workers with cumulative trauma injuries. The report also provides estimates of after-tax wage replacement rates for workers with permanent disability and the first estimates of wage replacement rates in California for workers affected by statutory increases in permanent disability benefits that were adopted as part of major workers' compensation reform legislation enacted in 2012.

Adequacy of Earnings Replacement in Workers' Compensation Programs

Adequacy of Earnings Replacement in Workers' Compensation Programs PDF Author: H. Allan Hunt
Publisher: W.E. Upjohn Institute
ISBN: 0880993146
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 172

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Book Description
In 1998, NASI convened a study panel of its Workers' Compensation Steering Committee (seep.145 for a list of panel members) to review the earnings replacement benefits under the variousstate and federal workers' compensation programs for workers injured or made ill by their jobs.The Benefit Adequacy Study Panel's task was to examine the extent to which workers'compensation wage replacement benefits paid to injured workers replace their lost wages, and toassess the adequacy of wage replacement.

Industrial Cancers in California's Workers' Compensation System

Industrial Cancers in California's Workers' Compensation System PDF Author: Michael Dworsky
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Cancer
Languages : en
Pages : 66

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Book Description
California's workers' compensation system requires employers to provide medical care and disability (or indemnity) benefits to workers who experience workplace injuries and illnesses, including occupational cancer. The adequacy of disability benefits for workers with occupational cancer is an issue of considerable public concern. In response to concerns over potential gender bias in disability compensation, the California State Legislature has passed several bills that would have modified the disability rating process for cancer. All of these bills were vetoed by former Governor Jerry Brown. This report was requested in Governor Brown's September 2018 veto message for Assembly Bill 749 and was commissioned by the state Department of Industrial Relations in order to inform the ongoing debate over compensation for industrial cancer in California. In this report, the authors conduct an empirical analysis of earnings losses, disability ratings, and benefit payments for occupational cancer claims in the California workers' compensation system. This report builds on other recent RAND research on earnings losses and postinjury outcomes for workers who experience occupational injuries and illnesses in California, including a study on musculoskeletal disorders among firefighters. The intended audience consists of legislators and other policymakers in California, stakeholders with an interest in the health and safety of public safety workers, and policymakers in other states who are considering how occupational cancers should be compensated in the workers' compensation system.

Trends in Earnings Loss from Disabling Workplace Injuries in California

Trends in Earnings Loss from Disabling Workplace Injuries in California PDF Author: Robert T. Reville
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Electronic book
Languages : en
Pages : 46

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Book Description
The adequacy of benefits for permanent disability from occupational injuries is a continuing source of controversy among policymakers in California. This book focuses on the economic consequences of disabling injuries and what those outcomes suggest about the current adequacy of workers' compensation in California. In particular, the authors investigate the relationship between losses in earnings from workplace injuries and economic conditions in the state during the 1990s. Although changes in economic conditions had some impact on earnings losses experienced by permanent partial disability claimants, especially less-severely injured workers who are more easily accommodated by their employers, the decline in earnings losses may be more closely related to changes in the workers' compensation market. Even though benefit levels have increased since 1991 and earnings losses have declined, replacement rates for lost income remain below two-thirds of pre-tax wages, the standard commonly cited for adequacy. Because benefits have declined (in inflation-corrected dollars) since their last increase in 1996 and, as of 2001, the economy is headed into a new recession, it is possible that workers injured today will have worse outcomes than workers injured in 1996 or 1997.

Compensating Permanent Workplace Injuries

Compensating Permanent Workplace Injuries PDF Author: Mark A. Peterson
Publisher: RAND Corporation
ISBN:
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 248

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Book Description
Workers in California experiencing injuries at work that result in permanent partial disabilities (PPD) are eligible to receive compensation. The workers' benefits, doctors' and attorneys' fees, and the system that processes the hundreds of thousands of annual claims cost employers billions of dollars each year. This report evaluates the workers' compensation system by examining its efficiency and the adequacy and equity of its benefits, and suggests system reforms. The authors conducted interviews with system participants and found that the system is still troubled by many of the same problems that plagued it before the 1989 and 1993 reforms. It remains overly costly, complex, and litigious while delivering modest benefits. The authors estimated the wage losses of PPD claimants in 1991-93, and found that even after five years, the injured workers earned considerably less than controls. In addition, injured workers experience considerable time out of work, not just immediately after the injury, but also after the initial return to work. The authors identified particular problems among claims categorized by the workers' compensation system as "minor," the vast majority of claims. For this group, wage replacement rates were lowest. Reform proposals include an elective fast track to streamline claims processing, and a revision to the disability rating schedule to improve the relationship between wage loss and benefits paid.

An Evaluation of California's Permanent Disability Rating System

An Evaluation of California's Permanent Disability Rating System PDF Author: Robert T. Reville
Publisher: Minnesota Historical Society
ISBN: 9780833038135
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 176

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Book Description
California's disability rating system has been criticized as being inconsistent and prone to promote disputes over the appropriate level of permanent disability benefits. This monograph follows an earlier interim briefing on California's permanent disability rating schedule. The authors provide a systematic evaluation of the ratings system that was used prior to the state's 2004 workers' compensation reform efforts. Among other analyses, they examine the extent to which workers with higher disability ratings experience higher earnings losses.

Workers' Compensation

Workers' Compensation PDF Author: H. Allan Hunt
Publisher: W.E. Upjohn Institute
ISBN: 0880995300
Category : Health & Fitness
Languages : en
Pages : 138

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Book Description
H. Allan Hunt and Marcus Dillender provide a succinct analysis of the state of WC programs in North America by focusing on three key performance issues: 1) the adequacy of compensation for those disabled in the workplace, 2) return-to-work performance for injured workers, and 3) prevention of disabling injury and disease. Following a brief introductory chapter that provides a discussion of the difficulties of trying to compare so many diverse programs, Hunt and Dillender devote a chapter to each of the three performance issues and provide empirical findings and useful guidance for policymakers and researchers as they set their sights on adapting WC for the twenty-first century.

Benefits and Earnings Losses for Permanently Disabled Workers in California

Benefits and Earnings Losses for Permanently Disabled Workers in California PDF Author: Michael Dworsky
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780833096319
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Following California's major reforms to the state workers' compensation system, RAND researchers assess trends in earnings loss and permanent partial disability benefits before the reforms, as well as how the reforms might affect injury compensation.

Findings and Recommendations on California's Permanent Partial Disability System

Findings and Recommendations on California's Permanent Partial Disability System PDF Author: Rachel Kaganoff Stern
Publisher: RAND Corporation
ISBN: 9780833025760
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
This volume summarizes a comprehensive empirical analysis of the permanent partial disability component of California's workers' compensation system. Established early in this century, this system processes hundreds of thousands of claims from injured workers every year and pays out billions of dollars in benefits.

Compensating Permanent Workplace Injuries

Compensating Permanent Workplace Injuries PDF Author: Mark A. Peterson
Publisher: RAND Corporation
ISBN: 9780833025777
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 248

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Book Description
Workers in California experiencing injuries at work that result in permanent partial disabilities (PPD) are eligible to receive compensation. The workers' benefits, doctors' and attorneys' fees, and the system that processes the hundreds of thousands of annual claims cost employers billions of dollars each year. This report evaluates the workers' compensation system by examining its efficiency and the adequacy and equity of its benefits, and suggests system reforms. The authors conducted interviews with system participants and found that the system is still troubled by many of the same problems that plagued it before the 1989 and 1993 reforms. It remains overly costly, complex, and litigious while delivering modest benefits. The authors estimated the wage losses of PPD claimants in 1991-93, and found that even after five years, the injured workers earned considerably less than controls. In addition, injured workers experience considerable time out of work, not just immediately after the injury, but also after the initial return to work. The authors identified particular problems among claims categorized by the workers' compensation system as "minor," the vast majority of claims. For this group, wage replacement rates were lowest. Reform proposals include an elective fast track to streamline claims processing, and a revision to the disability rating schedule to improve the relationship between wage loss and benefits paid.