It has been reported SaltLakeTribune: Few lawyers willing to represent injured workers that fewer lawyers are now representing injured workers. The situation is critical in many areas of workers' compensation law including the delivery of medical benefits.
This situation is rather contagious. While claims have dropped nationally, the number of attorneys representing injured claimants have also fallen, but at an alarming rate. This phenomenon is not reflective of a safer work environment, but one in which the Industry has squeezed lawyers out of the process intentionally, through many aspects including: regulatory action, philosophical strategy, and legislative tactics. It has been difficult, to say the least, for stakeholders to seek benefits. The failure to mount a defense against these disruptive and destructive practices is partly based upon the inability of stakeholders to maintain a united front.
Yet the CMS (Medicare reimbursement issue) challenge is one that should be a new beginning for injured workers, Labor, lawyers and other groups to creatively employ tactics and strategy to reconstruct the benefit program, albeit periodic payments, rather to merely adopt a program and jump on the band wagon of Industry to deconstruct the program of "lump sum" reductions in benefits including medical care. A good start would be to propose to Congress a legislative package meaningful to injured workers and one that would preserve the integrity of the periodic benefit system and continued provision of full and complete medical benefits. The convoluted system proposed, yet again, by Industry fails to meet those goals.
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