Posted on 05/29/2005 11:12:44 AM PDT by John Jorsett
A journalist friend of mine recently attended a banquet for hundreds of private detective agencies, and was fascinated to hear them, one-by-one, introduce themselves. The fascinating part: roughly one-quarter specialized in investigating Californians who claim to be injured on the job.
The fact that California's private dick industry spends so much time probing claims of back strains, pain, and other injuries is testament to the troubles afflicting the most milked, most disastrous workers comp system in the United States.
Last year, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed sweeping reform, Senate Bill 899 by Republican State Sen. Charles Poochigian of Fresno, to cleanse a mess that, by all accounts, was prompting layoffs and ruining companies that could no longer afford their own workers.
SB 899 is a big success. Rates are plunging, insurance companies who fled corrupt California are back, and severely injured workers receive more money while the barely injured get less. How incredibly sensible.
The biggest winners, besides truly injured workers, are small businesses who drive the California economy. As we heard in legislative testimony, employers saw rates skyrocket 250 percent to 1000 percent---even if they had no injured workers. That’s what happens when tens of thousands of cheaters, greedy doctors and greedy lawyers bleed the system dry.
Now, under the Poochigian-Schwarzenegger reforms, rates are expected to show a total drop of 26 percent by late this year.
So if a modest factory saw rates double from $35,000 to $70,000 a month in 2003, that will be slashed by $18,200 a month in 2005. That’s a lot of factories that won’t have to lay off non-cheating employees.
But as we saw on shameful display April 27, there’s a fly in this ointment: lawyers who got squeezed, and labor fat-cats who don't give a rip if small businesses go bankrupt. A few days ago, these anti-reformers tried to oust workers' comp czar Andrea Hoch. They failed, thanks to the grit of increasingly impressive Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata.
Before reform, medical costs per claim in California were 23 percent higher than in 12 other big states. By 2001, that meant $24,235 per claim. The Workers Compensation Research Institute found that once a worker stayed home beyond seven days, claims of "permanent disability" mysteriously soared to 50 percent. By contrast, in Wisconsin the number of workers who filed such claims after staying home a week was only 29 percent. No mystery there.
Now such claims are dropping fast. Hoch is strictly abiding by the Schwarzenegger-Poochigian reforms. The number of “disputed claims” plunged from 17,104, in April of 2003, to 10,878 by January of this year, according to Hoch’s data.
That’s 6,226 legal documents not filed, 6,226 employers who didn’t hire a detective, and 6,226 attorneys whose wallets aren’t fatter. Boo hoo.
Seth Unger, aide to Poochigian, notes that “getting a permanent disability rating from a court is the place where the attorneys really make their money.”
California had a “no-fault“ system so truly injured workers didn’t have to go to court, but lawyers turned it into a travesty. They dubbed themselves “applicants’ attorneys”---implying a harmless nature. They won fat “permanent disability” ratings. Labor bosses loved it, seeing it as a job perk for workers. Statewide, findings of “disability” ranged wildly from doctor to doctor. Your $50 twisted knee was another man’s retirement.
"California has the worst return-to-work rate in the nation," notes Schwarzenegger spokesman Vince Sollitto, "mainly because they were in litigation, it was all being contested and it was highly litigious.” Workers were urged to stay home and fight.
Now, as of Jan. 1, Californians who claim “back injuries” or “stress,” but are out golfing or moving furniture are the losers. Because now, finally, we use objective American Medical Association guidelines to determine disability---just like 41 much, much smarter states and the feds.
Before reform, lawyers and Big Labor made sure AMA guidelines were banned---actually banned---in determining disabilities in California. Good Lord.
Notes Sollitto, "Both the fakers and the people with significantly lesser injuries will see a reduction in awards. That‘s very unfortunate for attorneys.”
These past few days, the mainstream media in California often sided with Big Labor and the attorneys in their Hoch coverage. The media's long silence on "permanent disability" is how California got so corrupted in the first place, so you'll see wetlands in Death Valley before you see the media snap to it on this story.
The anti-reformers want Arnold to undercut Hoch. Don’t do it, Arnold. Ignore Democrats who insist they never dreamed reform would be so strict (yeah, it’s so very difficult to do what 41 more sensible states do). Ignore silly Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, who threatened to hold up the California budget, then relented. Ignore Art Pulaski, of the California Federation of Labor, who accused Perata of selling out but who represented the real sellouts.
I have an alternate plan: give Hoch, champion of the truly injured and of California’s devastated small business community, an award for State Worker of the Month.
Poochigian is running for Atty. Gen. in CA. A good man.
This is a great article. I'm glad to hear that something is being done about those who try to cheat the system.
"Poochigian-Schwarzenegger reforms"
There's a reform measure begging for an acronym.
In the next recession, I say we sue and expropriate all lawyers and redistribute.
I am sick of those liberal college utopia fraternity freeloading ba$tard$.
What?
In that case, it still went from 35,000 to $51,800 in two years - a 48% increase!
"The media's long silence on "permanent disability" is how California got so corrupted in the first place, so you'll see wetlands in Death Valley before you see the media snap to it on this story."
Wetlands in Death Valley? We saw an actual lake in Death Valley - it even had canoes on it?
But the "Liberals" in the media never covered disability reform.
Could that be the reason they are called 'Presstitutes"?
Now, under the Poochigian-Schwarzenegger reforms, rates are expected to show a total drop of 26 percent by late this year.
A 1000 percent increase offset by a 26 percent decrease results in an increase of over 730%.
A 250 percent increase offset by a 26 percent decrease results in an increase of 160%.
They declare this system fixed??? Incredible!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.