In accepting the Democratic nomination for presidency of the United States, Barack Obama declared that he envisioned “….an economy that honors the dignity of work.” The State legislatures had many goals in mind when they crafted a system for compensating injured workers.
One of the goals was to relieve the injured worker of the burden of paying for their own medical care. The pendulum is swinging back to the 1911 era when the majority of workers are no longer covered for medical care. Uncompensated medical care is now a $42.9 Billion burden on governmental programs.
Generally speaking workers’ compensation was to provide a summary, efficient and economical administrative system of benefits for injured workers. One of the program’s major purposes was to avoid the tedious, costly and unpredictable results of the civil justice system. State laws created a system of a certain and reliable flow of benefits which gave support and dignity to the workforce that complemented their strong work ethic.
As the workers’ compensation expanded, salaries, pensions and benefits became unstable. The process became entangled into legalities and the assertion of a growing number of defenses became more troublesome. Consequently the system became entangled in the tedium of collateral issues and escalating delay.
This progression of events impacted the system with resulting frustration and the workers with a loss of self-esteem. It is time, that on this Labor Day, we reflect on the past and follow the vision of the future and embrace the concept, that the dignity of work and workers, should be honored.
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