Workers' Compensation: Search results for burton

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Tuesday, November 26, 2013

The Next Wave: N.H.L. Players Sue League Over Head Injuries

Occupational illness claims have been a traditional battleground in workers' compensation for larger and more significant lawsuits and dynamic changes in the safety of the workplace induced by economics.

From the lack of the incorporation of occupational claims in the 1911 model workers' compensation acts, in the 1950's, employers and their insurance companies sought refuge under the "exclusivity bar" of the. workers' compensation act to shield themselves from negligence actions for silicosis and asbestosis claims.

The creativity of claimant's lawyers, and the blatant intentional tort acts of unscrupulous asbestos companies, brought forth a sweeping change in the economic balance as claimants used the civil justice system to establish an avenue for adequate compensation for asbestos victims (lung cancer, asbestosis and mesothelioma claims).

Asbestos litigation, "longest running tort, continues today and is the perfect example of the societal benefits of a working civil justice system. In fact, the same dynamic existed in: tobacco litigation, lead paint litigation, latex litigation and has been repeated many times over.

The civil justice system, not the workers' compensation system, established an economic incentive establishing a safer workplace for workers and their families.

It is more than obvious that contact sports are seeing the next wave of litigation as the employers and their insurance companies accelerate the cycle, by barring professional athletic players from even seeking workers' compensation benefits, ie. California.

Since it appears that no safe helmet can be manufactured to protect the mayhem of some contact sports, the business of sports will be the next "industry" to experience economic incentives to make the workplace safer. The higher education system will just have to find another economic engine to fund colleges and university and stop luring students to play dangerous sports in hope of winning the professional sports lottery.

First football, now hockey, are emerging targets of the civil justice system as the economics of safety takes hold and the need for safety takes hold. Today's post is shared from the nytimes.com.

Ten former N.H.L. players sued the league Monday for negligence and fraud, saying the sport’s officials should have done more to address head injuries but instead celebrated a culture of speed and violence.

The players, who were in the league in the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s, filed their suit in federal court in Washington. One of the lead lawyers is Mel Owens, a former N.F.L. player who has represented scores of other retired players in workers’ compensation cases.

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Jon L. Gelman of Wayne NJ is the author NJ Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thompson) and co-author of the national treatise, Modern Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thompson). For over 4 decades the Law Offices of Jon L Gelman 1.973.696.7900 jon@gelmans.com have been representing injured workers and their families who have suffered occupational accidents and illnesses.

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Wednesday, February 24, 2016

Breast Cancer: California Discriminates Against Women

The California Applicants’ Attorneys Association (CAAA) joined Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez (D-San Diego) for the first ever Women in the Workplace Day at the State Capitol. The day was centered around Governor Brown’s veto of the CAAA sponsored AB 305 (Gonzalez, 2015), which sought to ensure that women are not compensated less than men for identical work injuries.

Obamacare Has a Friend in the Health Care Industry

Today's post was shared by Mother Jones and comes from www.motherjones.com

In the LA Times today, Noam Levey writes that Obamacare has an ace in the hole: the insurance industry. Sure, they have their gripes:

But since 2010, they have invested billions of dollars to overhaul their businesses, design new insurance plans and physician practices and develop better ways to monitor quality and control costs.
Few industry leaders want to go back to a system that most had concluded was failing, as costs skyrocketed and the ranks of the uninsured swelled. Nor do they see much that is promising from the law's Republican critics. The GOP has focused on repealing Obamacare, but has devoted less energy to developing a replacement.
.... For many of these organizations, the prospect of new customers and a more rational system outweighs their sometimes intense irritation with the Obama administration. Insurance executives, in particular, have gnashed their teeth at the president's attacks on their industry....Despite the frustrations, most insurers remain committed to moving to a new market that would achieve the central promise of the Affordable Care Act: that all consumers can buy health plans even if they have preexisting medical conditions.

This is really a crucial point. Like it or not, the entire health care industry has spent the past three years gearing up for the rollout of Obamacare. At this point, they're committed—and doubly so since the Republican Party very clearly has no real alternative for them. This means that all the doom-mongering on Fox...

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Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Delay Or Deny At Your Risk

Today's post was shared by WorkCompCentral and comes from daviddepaolo.blogspot.com

There are so many reasons why both employers and workers feel that workers' compensation is "broken" or doesn't work.

Peter Rousmaniere, who is beginning work this week for WorkCompCentral, suggests in his column reviewing two studies on perceived delays in medical treatment that delay may arise as much from indifferent doctoring skills as days elapsing on the calendar.

An employer consultant relayed to me a factual scenario indicating another cause of this perception - standard claims administration protocol, which is defensive in nature as opposed to being aggressively pro-active.

Rousmaniere cites a couple of studies in his column. A Texas Department of Workers' Compensation survey of injured workers documents wide discrepancy in perceptions, but also notes that up to 50% of all survey respondents complained of some delay in receipt of treatment.

Another study cited by Rousmaniere conducted by Harbor Health, which specializes in designing workers’ compensation provider networks, looked for differences in claims outcome, including medical cost and litigation rates, and if surgical treatment happened early or late in the course of treatment.

Harbor Health found that early surgery in carpal tunnel cases (earlier than recommended by treatment guidelines) produced slightly more cost in medical expense but much less cost in indemnity expense.

Let's put these findings into context.

Assume a 28 year old male worker who complains of "...

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Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Congress, Health Care & Unintended Consequences

This past week some very dramatic things happened in the workers’ compensation world. The US Senate moved forward on initiating a floor debate on health care. At the same time, a group of workers’ compensation scholars met in Washington DC to discuss the future of workers’ compensation and the interplay with social security disability.

Highlights of the NASI (National Academy of Social Insurance) conference convened in Washington were findings presented by eminent leaders in the field. Professor John Burton, Rutgers University, pointed out that newly created barriers to workers’ compensation were pushing more injured workers to the Social Security disability system for benefits. This reflects a phenomenon that occurred in the late 1970’s when a study commissioned by the US Department of Labor and conducted by Mt. Sinai Hospitals’ Environmental Sciences Laboratory, revealed that the inadequate benefit delivery system of workers’ compensation for asbestos related illness, was forcing injured workers and their families into the civil justice arena for adequate compensation.

The problems have not changed in decades; they have only gotten worse, maturing into a system that is in critical condition and on life support. In 1980 Irving J. Selikoff, M.D. reported, “There has been widespread acknowledgement of significant problems with disability compensation for workers in the United States. One major area of concern has been the shortcomings with regard to occupational disease. Whatever the suitability of current workers’ compensation systems in the 50 states for injuries and work accidents, there has been little disagreement about the inadequacies of such systems for workers who become disabled by illness or, if they die, for their surviving dependents.”

Complex questions continue to exist between the scientific and legal communities as to the path to be taken. Barriers placed into the path of recovery, including pre-existing and co-existing conditions, which result in limited or delayed recovery and major shifting of the economic responsibility upon the public/private benefit systems need to be removed. The unspoken social consequences continue as a silent epidemic as families and survivors struggle in silence.

Looking backward over the noble experiment in California which turned sour, Tom Rankin, former President of the California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO, expressed his regret of the reform. The former Labor leader theorized that the results were “unintended consequences.” Indeed he is looking forward to solutions springing forth in a “public option” embedded into the national health care legislation.

Some participants at the NASI conference alleged a major shortcoming of the California workers’ compensation legislative reform effort. Doug Kim, a lobbyist for the claimant’s attorneys, disclosed that the injured workers’ advocates were not invited to partake in the discussion that lead up to crafting the initial drafts of the 2004 California reform legislation SB 899.

History reveals, that when the theoretical reforms were practically applied, the injured workers suffered serious setbacks. If these were in fact “unintended consequences,” then one must consider the active involvement of all stakeholders when looking forward to solutions. The courts in California have consistently upheld challenges to the inequitable results, pointing to the legislative intent to reduce costs. Absent from the discussions of the presenters were practical systemic applications to improve the present system. The “blood and guts” of the traumatic, delay and denial, struggles of navigating in a crippled workers’ compensation system, in California and elsewhere, is verification that change is mandated.

As North Carolina attorney, Valerie A. Johnson, so eloquently remarked, “workers’ compensation is supposed to be a simple system.” The process has now been obstructed by encroaching elements of fault, contributory negligence, apportionment of pre-existing conditions and difficulties of the element of time, manifested by latent diseases unknown to the fathers of the system a century ago. The advance of medical science has brought forth new and innovated modalities that have contributed to soaring medical costs. The convergence of these issues has generated higher administrative costs.

Pecuniary Industry motives have worked adversely to improving safety in the workplace. The need for workers’ compensation would be minimized by adopting a safer occupational environment. Under reporting of workplace accidents continue as the Government Accountability Office announced. Nebraska Appleseed reveals that workers feel intimidated and are apprehensive to report injuries and unsafe work conditions. This is scenario is compounded by the fact that undocumented workers, who have even less job security, work in jobs with higher risk. The Bush Administration did not make efforts to allow OSHA to heighten enforcement efforts. All of these ingredients combine to create a recipe that just doesn’t work.

The US Senate advanced the health care legislation to a floor debate in an unusual late Saturday night session. This action may indeed provide an opportunity for the stakeholders in workers’ compensation to all join in the debate and look for solutions to the delivery of appropriate medical care in an efficient and timely fashion. To avoid “unintended consequences” yet again, injured workers and their advocates will need to be active participants and engage in the debate now.

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To read more about workers’ compensation and universal health care solutions click here.

Friday, December 6, 2013

Keeping privacy in focus

Confidentiality has been the hallmark of Workers' Compensation since the inception of the program. Has been challenged federally through the portability act concerning the privacy of medical records. All that reach was bad enough, a data breach from and a governmental site is even worse. It is becoming more than obvious, but the weak financial infrastructure, of the patchwork of worker's Compensation systems for the country are creating serious challenges. Instead of attempting to run 50 different programs throughout the country, it is probably A good idea to start looking inward, and establishing a single solid system that can meet the needs required to run A multibillion-dollar benefit system the rep country and also maintain the confidentiality and privacy that the parties participating in it require. Today's post shared from therepublic.com

Hackers gained access to the personal information of about 26,000 Pennsylvanians who use debit cards to receive jobless and workers' compensation benefits, the Pennsylvania Treasury Department said Thursday.
The incident was part of a wider security breach affecting 465,000 holders of JPMorgan Chase & Co. prepaid cash cards nationwide.
The breach affects only cardholders who used the JPMorgan Chase UCard Center website between mid-July and mid-September, the Treasury Department said. Michael Fusco, a spokesman for JPMorgan, said the bank found no evidence any information was used improperly.
JPMorgan first contacted the Pennsylvania Treasury Department on Tuesday, agency spokesman Gary Tuma said.
JPMorgan has referred the matter to law enforcement and would not explain details of how the breach occurred, the Treasury Department said.
The Pennsylvania agency wants details from JPMorgan Chase about the bank's response to the breach, including an explanation for any delay in notifying it and the additional measures it will undertake to protect against a recurrence.
The department said most of the personal information that might have been viewed includes card numbers, dates of birth, user IDs, email addresses. Information on external bank accounts might have been exposed, as well, if a cardholder completed a transaction to it, the department said.
Cardholders are being contacted by letter with instructions and are being urged by JPMorgan Chase in the meantime to...

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Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Are Smokers Really the ACA’s Biggest Losers?

Smoking is a major pre-existing condition in workers' compensation claims and it is also a multiplier for medical conditions that result in malignancies. Penalizing smokers through the ACA (Affordable Care Act) will also have an effect on workers' compensation claims. Today's post was shared by The Health Care Blog and comes from thehealthcareblog.com

Facing thousands in extra insurance costs, smokers appear to be the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) biggest losers. Employers are allowed charge smokers up to 50% more for their medical coverage than nonsmokers , starting in 2014.
On November 25, Fox News put it best: “Obamacare Policies Slam Smokers,” , noting that “smokers are the only group with a pre-existing condition that Obamacare penalizes.” THCB itself has headlined: Smokers Face Tough New Rules under Obamacare.

And these headlines are absolutely accurate — meaning that, with the possible exception of the e-cigarette, ACA is the best thing that has happened to employed smokers ever.

Here is how we arrive at this conclusion. The data is mixed on whether smokers incur much higher healthcare costs or just slightly higher healthcare costs during their working ages than non-smokers do. None of the data shows that their costs are lower, but let’s say there is no impact on health spending.

Nonetheless, the following is incontrovertible: smokers take smoking breaks.
Remarkably, there are no laws specifically governing smoking breaks, and like most other quantifiable human resources issues, no one has quantified them. But we all observe these breaks, and about a fifth of us participate in them. They reduce productivity. By definition, if you are outside smoking, you are not inside...

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Monday, November 25, 2013

Workers Compensation For Firefighters Discussed

The Kentucky Association of Firefighters is backing legislation that presumes full-time firefighters who develop cancer got it on the job and would be eligible to collect workers compensation.
Representatives of the organization made their case in Frankfort on Thursday (Nov. 21) before House and Senate members of the Interim Joint Committee on Labor and Industry.
They were joined by Doctor Virginia Weaver, a physician and professor of Occupational Medicine at Johns Hopkins University. She says the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health is doing some important research on the hazards of firefighting.
“They’re looking at firefighters from three major cities in the U.S., comparing risk for cancer in firefighters with the general U.S. public, and found an increased overall risk for all cancer, an increased individual risk focused in the digestive tract and the respiratory tract.” –Virginia Weaver
The bill that’s being proposed in Kentucky would only apply to professional firefighters who’ve been on the job at least five years. It would also exclude those who smoke.

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Friday, November 22, 2013

New Scrutiny for Medical Devices

Today's post was shared by FairWarning and comes from well.blogs.nytimes.com

Metal-on-metal replacement hips remain high-risk, but other devices are to be downgraded.

Wayne Schneider’s heart stopped beating late last year while the Minneapolis paramedic was out on an emergency call.

Another medic performed CPR for a few minutes, and then used a medical device that delivered cardiac compressions mechanically for 64 minutes, until Mr. Schneider’s heart started beating normally on its own.

“I’m not sure people would have been able to sustain manual CPR for so long,” said Mr. Schneider, 57. “I’m a lucky guy.”

National Analysis of Workers Compensation Medical Benefits

The just published, Issue 3 of the Workers’ Compensation Resources Research Report (WCRRR) provides 23 years of information on cash benefits, medical benefits, and total (cash plus medical) benefits per 100,000 workers for up to 47 jurisdictions each year. Workers’ compensation benefits per 100,000 workers varied significantly nationally over these years.

In the most recent six years, total benefits per 100,000 workers increased by less than one percent in two years and declined in the other four years. There also typically are wide differences among jurisdictions in the generosity of benefits in a particular year. In 2007, for example, total benefits per 100,000 workers were more than fifty percent about the national average in five states and more than fifty percent below the national average in one jurisdiction. Over the 23 years, the differences among states have narrowed for cash benefits, medical benefits, and total benefits, although the differences among states in medical benefits have increased since 1998.

The WCRRR is edited by John F. Burton, Jr. Additional information about Issue 3 and an order form are available at www.workerscompresources.com.
Related articles

Friday, November 22, 2013

Income Growth Has Stalled for Most Americans

Workers' Compensation is basically a system based on wages that determine benefits. Over the decades the spread or "inequality" of wealth has moved more workers into a lower pay class wherein they only receive the minimum rates of workers' compensation benefits despite what appears to be yearly increases in rate structures. Today's post was shared by Mother Jones and comes from www.motherjones.com

Yesterday the Census Bureau released its latest income data, confirming what millions of Americans already know: The recession may be over, but the recovery has yet to trickle down. Specifically, the Census reported that median household incomes didn't budge between 2011 and 2012.

Digging deeper into the new data reveals more evidence of the widening income gap between the rich and the rest.

The only bright side of stalled incomes is that they are no longer experiencing the steep decline that started in 2007 before the recession hit. But that's hardly cause for celebration: At $51,017, the real median household income in 2012 is even less than it was at the end of the '80s, and it's down 9 percent from its high in 1999.

This loss of real income hasn't affected all Americans equally. For the top 20 percent of earners, average incomes grew 70 percent since 1967, and they grew 88 percent for the top 5 percent. Meanwhile, middle-income households have seen their earnings grow just 20 percent in the past four decades.

This translates into a greater share of total income going to top earners. In 2012, the top 20 percent took in more than half of all income in the United States, according to the Census.

To put that into sharper focus, I've charted how each percentile's share of total income has changed since the late '60s. After experiencing significant growth in the mid-1970s, the bottom 20 percent of earners have seen their share steadily drop. Compare that...

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Copyright

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

The Next Wave: N.H.L. Players Sue League Over Head Injuries

Wednesday, February 24, 2016

Breast Cancer: California Discriminates Against Women

Sunday, November 24, 2013

Obamacare Has a Friend in the Health Care Industry

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Delay Or Deny At Your Risk

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Congress, Health Care & Unintended Consequences

Friday, December 6, 2013

Keeping privacy in focus

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Are Smokers Really the ACA’s Biggest Losers?

Monday, November 25, 2013

Workers Compensation For Firefighters Discussed

Friday, November 22, 2013

New Scrutiny for Medical Devices

Saturday, July 30, 2011

National Analysis of Workers Compensation Medical Benefits

Friday, November 22, 2013

Income Growth Has Stalled for Most Americans

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