California’s Workers’ Compensation is facing major changes if a bill scheduled for this week comes up for debate and then passes. Veteran Sacramento Bee columnist Dan Walters says renegotiating of workers’ comp benefits for injured workers happens about every ten years with the current battle no different from the divisive fight in 2004. However, this time, at least part of big labor is supporting reductions in benefits. Further, some stakeholders not allowed at the negotiations.
Workers’ comp lawyers and insurance companies are not part of the negotiations, which are rushed and and being in secret. I discuss this and more and interview a workers’ comp lawyer with decades of experience in my latest IVN article. He has useful insights into the convoluted process that is California workers’ compensation.
And many workers really are injured. He says:
Look at the comments after Dan Walters’ [workers’ comp] article. People are told there are no real work injuries, only people who pretend to be injured because they are lazy. Sit at my desk and interview truly injured people who tell you they are not like those other claimants, they are really injured, to understand how deeply ingrained this attitude has become, due to constant pounding by the insurance industry and the press.