Immediate ReleaseContact: Jerry Azevedo
April 8, 2008 (916) 554-3404
Employers Visit Capitol on Workers’ Comp Issues
Businesses, schools and local governments
stress need to protect recent reforms
SACRAMENTO, California – Dozens of employers from throughout California today came to Sacramento to meet with lawmakers on workers’ compensation issues and discuss the importance of protecting recent legislative reforms for California.
The 2008 Workers’ Compensation Legislative Education Day brought together large companies from the technology, entertainment, energy and transportation sectors, as well as small business owners and representatives from local government and school districts. The event was hosted by the CalChamber, California Coalition on Workers’ Compensation, California Manufacturers & Technology Association (CMTA), and the Workers’ Compensation Action Network (WCAN).
“Nearly four years since the sweeping reforms of Senate Bill 899, employers must remain diligent to protect these reforms from roll-back legislation in Sacramento,” said Allan Zaremberg, CalChamber president and WCAN co-chair. “Although California has made significant strides in improving the system for employers and injured workers, California is still among the most expensive states in the nation for workers’ compensation insurance.”
Participants discussed with lawmakers the positive impacts of the 62 percent average reduction in workers’ compensation insurance premiums since 2003, such as preventing layoffs or enabling pay raises and benefits for employees, as well as improvements in return-to-work levels for injured workers. They also educated lawmakers on the aspects of the current system, such as access to medical treatment and the new permanent disability rating schedule.
“The system is moving forward in a positive way, but we must remind policymakers about the crisis that led to the recent legislative reforms," said Jack Stewart, CMTA president and WCAN co-char. “Costs had tripled and California businesses simply could not compete with the rest of the country – one major reason for a precipitous decline in the state's high-wage manufacturing careers. Legislation that would move us back toward the old system should not be an option, particularly given the sate of our economy.”
Employers Visit Capitol on Workers’ Comp Issues
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Participants discussed numerous legislative proposals that would impact the system, including proposals that would impact the review of medical treatment requests, the use of apportionment for permanent disability claims and regulate insurance rates. They also stressed the need for collaboration between all system stakeholders on further adjustments to the system.
“The system has been vastly improved, but there is still more we can be doing to make the system work even better in areas such as return-to-work,” said Tim East, chair of the California Coalition on Workers’ Compensation and WCAN co-chair. “A collaborative approach between business and labor has been successful in addressing specific issues during the past two years, such as increasing the timeframe for temporary disability benefits and additional treatment for postsurgical patients, and should be the model going forward.”
WCAN is a statewide, broad-based grassroots coalition of employer and insurer trade groups, businesses , non-profit organizations and public entities working together to ensure the full and successful implementation of reforms to restore predictability and stability to the workers’ compensation system, reduce costs for employers and improve services to injured workers. WCAN works to ensure that California employers and the media are informed about the implementation process so the legislative gains are protected and realized to ensure injured employees are given necessary medical care promptly and receive benefits timely, fraud is eliminated, legitimate disputes are resolved fairly and quickly, and system costs are reduced where inefficiencies and inequities exist.
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