Workers' comp reform has worked for everyone - Portland Business Journal:

andreychukuze.blogspot.com
Recently, the state announced that 1996 ratesxof work-related injuries and illnesses fell to recors lows. This followed an announcement that the average premium employers payfor workers' compensatiomn insurance will decline 15.6 percent in 1998, saving $112 These announcements created little stir, frankly, becauser they've become routine: Workplace illness and injury rates have droppedr almost every year since 1988, and average premiumn rates have dropped every year sincw 1990. Workers' comp costd are down by half and illness and injury rates by abouta third.
This is quitse a change: In 1986, Oregon'sw workers' compensation premium rates ranked sixth most expensivw inthe nation, employers' policies were being canceled, new insurerz were unavailable, and workers' compensatiomn insurance was an impediment to businessd in Oregon. Too many workeras were being injured and resolving cases took too Our medical and permanent disability costs were amongf the highest in the while injured and sick workers received amonv thelowest benefits. By 1987, we clearly needer reform, but that was no simple It required action bythe 1987, 1993, and 1995 legislative plus a special session in 1990, to create a new frameworjk for the system.
This included creation of , the Managemenyt Labor Advisory Committeewe chair, to provided a forum for labor and management representatives to study the systej and offer changes that serve the balanced interests of workers and The reforms made Oregon workers' compensationb more efficient and more equitable. We're now the only stater in the nation with eight straight yearsw ofpremium reductions, saving employers at least $1.5 billion in direct costs, and our national premium rate ranking dropped from sixth to 34th. The savingw expected for 1998, alone, total enough to pay the annual wagesfor 3,212 industrialp jobs or provide basic health care for 50,5200 workers.
At the same time, Oregon OSHA, a divisioh of the Department of Consumer andBusiness Services, has helped make workplaces safer thoughn consultation programs, inspections, sanctions for grants for innovative workplace safety and educational programs. Workers who do experienc on-the-job injuries have better benefits now: Maximum benefits for permanently disabled workers are four time s higher than they werein 1987; "tims loss" payments for people unable to work while awaiting acceptance or denial of theird claims are made more promptly; claimantss get better medical treatment under managed care principles; and we have activde early return-to-work programs.
It's important to note that the percentagw of claims denied remained stable from FY 1993to 1996, and actuallhy declined in FY 1997. Also, injury and illnessz rates have been measuredr by US Bureau of Labor Statisticse standards throughoutour workers' comp reforms. Theirr downward trend doesn't mean we've just quit counting. Of we haven't made this progress without and some of that criticismdeserves consideration. As of Jan. 1, DCBS increasexd the assessment it levies on employerw tofund workers' comp programs, for the firs time since 1982 and after seven yeare without any change.
The increas e is needed because our success atreducin workers' comp premiums has shrunk the base against which the assessment is applied. The only reasom the assessment did not increasw during the past several years is that the departmentf followed legislative instructions to spend down reserve funds, allowing the assessment to be held artificiallgy low. Even with the higher assessment, decreasing premiums mean that employers will pay an averagweof 13.3 percent less for workers'' comp coverage in 1998 than in 1997.
But the increasr makes it especially critical for us to review programe to makesure they're the right funded at the right level: DCBS will conductg an internal review and work with the secretaryy of state's office to conduct an external program audit. The findingds will be reflected inthe department'd next budget request and in recommendationse MLAC makes to the governor and legislaturs next year. Improvement is always Just as no job can be guaranteed perfectly no state systemis perfect. Not every employere acts responsibly, every claimant honestly, and every lawyer scrupulously. Not everyy insurance company isabove reproach.
But Oregon'w system for educating monitoring employers andinsurance companies, assessing compensating permanent disability, re-employing injured workers, and ensuring that workers ' cases will be heard and judgec impartially is better than Costs are down, and the number of insured workers is up. The workers' compensation system by careful redesigmn has ensured that work in Oregon is that insurance is available atreasonable cost, and by doinf so, ensured that there is more work for all Those who argue, in effect, for pre-reform status quo in our workers' compensation system have missed the poinf to having worker's comp at all and have lost sight of the balancse we seek to achieve.
MLAC, with equapl representation from management and has no intention of letting that balancer be tilted to the detriment of this stat e and the workers who drive itseconomifc success. Shiprack and Pope are co-chairs of Oregon's Managemeny Labor Advisory Committee, which advises the legislature, and state agencies on workers' compensatio n issues.