California’s workers’ compensation system is badly broken. How
broken, you ask? So broken, according to state Insurance
Commissioner John Garamendi, that the premiums the Los Angeles
School District pays for its employees equal the cost of 10,000
teachers.
California’s workers’ compensation system is badly broken. How broken, you ask? So broken, according to state Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi, that the premiums the Los Angeles School District pays for its employees equal the cost of 10,000 teachers.
So broken that the cost of the system has more than tripled, Garamendi says, from $9 billion a year in 1995 to $30 billion today.
So broken that Intel’s CEO told Reuters last month that the storied Silicon Valley company won’t expand in the Golden State, citing our workers’ compensation program as a key reason.
So broken that the California Chamber of Commerce lists workers’ compensation reform as its top business issue, outranking lawsuit reform and reducing business taxes.
Reforming California’s workers’ compensation system – which is rife with fraudulent claims, a ridiculous system for evaluating employees’ disability claims and a ludicrous administrative penalty system, to name just a few of the myriad problems – doesn’t just help businesses. It helps everybody.
When employers face double-digit – and frequently larger – increases in workers’ compensation premiums, they can’t hire as many people as they otherwise might, meaning fewer jobs in a region that’s already suffering from high unemployment. Employers consider – and sometimes do decide – moving their businesses out-of-state is their best business decision.
They eliminate California as a possible location for expansion of existing businesses and creation of new businesses. A broken workers’ compensation system hurts us all – and it’s high time we all demanded that the state fix it.
Workers’ compensation isn’t a sexy political issue. It’s a arcane and, frankly, boring. That makes it even more important that our legislators hear loudly from all of their constituents, from small business owners to hourly employees, from CEOs to first-level supervisors, from high-tech workers to stay-at-home moms: Fix California’s workers’ compensation system.
South Valley residents should get involved. Service clubs, like Rotary and Kiwanis, should invite legislators to speak on the topic. Chambers of Commerce should activate their e-mail and telephone trees to get the lines buzzing on this issue. And anyone who’s impacted by high unemployment and the sluggish economy – and that would be everyone – should contact their state legislators.
Moreover, if you know someone who is fraudulently claiming injury or otherwise abusing the system, don’t just look the other way, report it. They’re stealing someone’s job.
We need to tell our leaders that California’s broken workers’ compensation needs a complete overhaul. Now.
