We have long touted Massachusetts as the gold standard for workers compensation reform. In 1990 the state operated the second or third highest cost comp system in the nation; today MA is ranked 44th, with rates less than half of those in the other New England states. At the same time, the benefit structure is relatively generous, with a maximum indemnity wage of $1,150. The “taxachusetts” label applies to many aspects of living in the Bay State, but the cost of workers comp insurance is certainly not one of them.
But as is so often the case, failure lurks at the edge of success. The Insider has written extensively about the rate suppression that is opening like a sink hole below the market. The comp rates are so low, even good risks become questionable, simply due to the law of averages. Any company in MA with a .80 mod is by definition a marginal risk, because there is not enough premium to cover the exposure.
Generous to a Point
While benefits for injured workers are for the most part generous, there is one aspect of comp where state benefits fall short of what is needed and what is available in most states: injured workers only receive 60 percent of their average weekly wage, compared to the 66 2/3 percent or higher offered in other states. The 60 percent figure emerged in negotiations during the monumental reforms of 1990; even then it seemed harsh to extract savings from the pockets of those least able to afford it.
Now, in a desperate effort to increase revenues, Governor Deval Patrick is proposing that workers comp indemnity benefits be taxed. As a result, the already reduced 60 percent would be reduced another 4-6%, depending upon the final income tax rate in the new budget. Such taxation would violate the spirit of workers comp and exacerbate the stress of being injured and out of work. One of the unintended consequences of such a tax would be to push injured workers into the hands of attorneys, who thrive on friction and live off the most inefficient and expensive part of comp, cash settlements.
A Matter of Fairness
There are many factors contributing to the MA success story: a stingy fee schedule that doctors abhor, reduced reliance on settlements, which antagonizes claimant attorneys, a speedier dispute resolution process, and a reduction in indemnity benefits for workers.
In the Bay State, injured workers have already paid a price for the lower costs of workers comp. It would be unfair to ask these workers to make even greater sacrifices, when workers in other states receive higher benefits with no taxation. No matter what the rationale for taxing indemnity benefits may be – supporting education, fixing infrastructure – the measly $8 million raised by such a tax would be insignificant when compared to the cost to those least able to absorb it. It’s hard enough suffering through the pain of injury and recovery without adding insult to injury by further reducing already reduced income. This is a very bad idea and it should be tossed from the budget immediately.
Posts Tagged ‘indemnity’
Massachusetts: Governor Adding Insult to Injury?
Wednesday, April 24th, 2013Illiteracy has its Rewards
Tuesday, October 19th, 2010When a laborer is unable to perform physical work, the options are limited, not only for the worker, but for the workers comp system as well. Meet Pennsylvania’s Sam Muzzicato. He came to America from his native Italy in 1969. He had only four years of schooling in Italy. He immediately went to work in America and continued working until January 2007, when he injured his back while employed as a laborer for Strow’s Plumbing and Heating Company.
Strow’s insurer hired a vocational expert to determine Sam’s earning power. The expert came up with five possible jobs in the immediate labor market:
– Cashier at a Jiffy Lube
– Teller at a local casino
– Dispatcher for a trucking company
– A customer sales rep
– Front desk clerk in a hotel
Do you see a common denominator in all of these jobs? Some degree of computer literacy is needed. The Administrative Law Judge dismissed the first four jobs as not within Sam’s capabilities, but for unknown reasons determined that he could perform the desk clerk position. With this theoretical job available, the ALJ approved a reduction in Sam’s weekly indemnity benefit.
Here is the theory in PA law behind the wage reduction:
“[A]n employer may seek modification of a claimant’s benefits by either offering the claimant a specific job that it has available that he is capable of performing or establishing earning power through expert opinion evidence.”
Sam appealed to the Commonwealth Court, where the judges determined that the inclusion of the single job by the ALJ was capricious, and that Sam was incapable of performing any of the jobs recommended by the voc expert. Sam, in other words, has few, if any, transferable skills. When his body broke down, he had nothing to bring to the marketplace. As a result, his full indemnity will continue.
Broken Bodies
Sam’s story is by no means unique. Many of the immigrants who came to this country to find work had limited education in their native lands. Once here, they were too busy or too indifferent to pursue educational goals. They gained a foothold through hard work, perhaps shifting educational goals onto their children. Now as they enter the waning years of employment, their bodies break down. Where once they recovered quickly from workplace injuries, now the pain lingers, eroding their capacity to work. And once out of work, there is literally no place to go.
What lies ahead for the Sam Muzzicatos of the world? While it sounds odd to say it, Sam is lucky that he was injured at work. His back problems will be treated through the comp system for the foreseeable future. He will collect roughly 2/3 of his average weekly wage, tax free, at least until his eligibility for temporary total benefits runs out. After that, he will probably qualify for some form of permanent partial award. Sam, in other words, will transition rather smoothly into retirement through the generosity of the workers comp system.
Strow’s Plumbing and Heating will foot the bill through the experience rating process for three years. After that, the insurer will be on the hook for whatever is owed to Sam. Is this fair? Does it make sense? Is Sam being rewarded for his failure over the years to improve his skills through education? Ironically, if Sam did have transferable skills, his benefits would have been reduced, despite the fact that he might not be able to find work in this troubled economy. Would that have been fair? Indeed, in the world of workers comp, as judges parse the letter of the law and and employers struggle to pay the bills and injured workers battle to survive, is fairness even an issue under consideration?
