SACRAMENTO – A Senate committee’s approval of legislation to
begin addressing the in-crisis state workers’ compensation system
marks only the beginning of legislative actions needed to cap
skyrocketing premiums that are punishing California’s business men
and women, Senator Bruce McPherson (R-Santa Cruz) said
recently.
SACRAMENTO – A Senate committee’s approval of legislation to begin addressing the in-crisis state workers’ compensation system marks only the beginning of legislative actions needed to cap skyrocketing premiums that are punishing California’s business men and women, Senator Bruce McPherson (R-Santa Cruz) said recently.
McPherson said that approval by the Senate Labor and Industrial Relations Committee of Senate Bill 228 marks the beginning of overdue reform to the workers’ compensation system by controlling medical costs on in-patient hospital stays, out-patient surgeries, and prescription drugs.
But Senator McPherson, who recently called on Governor Gray Davis to call a special legislative session dedicated solely to the state’s workers’ compensation crisis, said that much more needs to be done to reform a system that has seen California businesses socked with double-digit – and in some cases, triple-digit – increases in their workers’ compensation insurance premiums.
“This bill is an important component of addressing the crisis in workers’ compensation,” McPherson said. “But it’s only a part of the solution, and much more reform needs to be enacted before we can give job creators in this state assurance that Sacramento is serious about reforming a broken system that threatens to drive many of them out of business.”
Senator McPherson said that for any legislative action on workers’ compensation to be complete, it must address six critical areas – which will be at the heart of legislation sponsored by Senate Republicans that will be considered later this month:
• Adequate Coverage – McPherson said the benefit system must provide adequate coverage to seriously injured workers.
• Medical Cost Controls — Over-use of medical procedures, McPherson said, is one of the largest contributors to today’s crisis.
• Adequate Rates – Insurance rates should be adequate to cover the cost of providing the coverage, McPherson said.
•Open-Market Competition – Rates should continue to be established through open- market competition.
•Reduce Litigation – Unproductive and contentious litigation needs to limited in the workers’ compensation system, McPherson said, so that injured workers can receive swift compensation for injuries.
• Eliminate Fraud – Any meaningful reform must empower prosecutors, employers and insurers to aggressively end fraud, McPherson said. Senator McPherson has set up an on-line survey so employers can share their experiences and concerns with the current workers’ compensation system.
Senator McPherson said that businesses that want to share their first-person accounts can access the survey at http://republican. sen.ca.gov/Survey/takeSurvey.asp?surveyID=25
