An employee that loses their arm on the job from an accident is lawfully authorized to a full workers compensation profit. In New York this benefit stands at a weekly rate of $400 for 312 weeks. For an injured employee who is unable to be cured, such as a permanent lower back injury that is diagnosed by a doctor, these weekly payments can continue for the rest of the employee's life.
A 1914 workers' compensation law is to blame for this inconsistency. This particular law established an incomplete schedule addressing many injuries that were considered disabling.
Issues like hearing loss and losing a limb were assigned specific benefit schedules. There are a range of enduring yet partial disabilities that were omitted by the law; these injuries receive payments for the remainder of the worker's life. These include back pain and mental stress.
The current compensation plan gives thirteen percent of all cases seventy percent of all benefit dollars. The workers comp premium in New York is 72% higher than the average nationally. Consequently, local business, schools and other government agencies are affected by the expense.
At the other end of the system, the maximum workers compensation benefit of $400 per week is now lagging behind other states in the region. On the other hand, New York's local governments have already started to deal with the two aspects of the system. Numerous other states have made $685 per week the new maximum payment to a severely injured worker.
Texas, previously had one of the worst workers' compensation systems in the nation. However, changes have been made to the system, it has the nation's third-highest workers' compensation costs and the highest rate of injured employees.
To add insult to injury, Texas also once had the largest number of doctors who dropped out of the system. Texas solved their worker's compensation problem by building new physician networks and making a small increase in the benefits available to injured workers. Today, Texas' brand new worker' comp law is one of the best ones in America.
Currently, there are discussions in New York which have suggested reducing the benefit payout period for partially disabling conditions to a maximum of ten years. Also suggested was the possibility of upping the maximum payout to a weekly $500. Just these two changes alone would decrease the cost of premiums up to 15%.
New York is hoping that other ideas will be presented and considered so they can raise the benefits for qualified injured workers even further. For those working to find a solution to the worker's compensation issues, the best way to ensure success is to look for a middle-of-the-road solution that will provide something to everyone. In addition, this will fix the issue of open-ended cases, such as back trouble.
California has already enacted similar reforms of its own workers compensation laws. Citizens used a petition drive to drum up support from within the public and prove that it should be placed on ballot. Because so many voters and taxpayers supported workers compensation reform, lawmakers decided to take action themselves.
In order to reach workers compensation reform within New York without options for a petition drive, the key is to force leaders in the legislation to take action. It is highly crucial that the local lawmakers inform their leaders that it is an important issue for strapped companies and struggling local government bodies.
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