Articles Posted in Workers Compensation

The new Tennessee Workers Compensation Act has gone to effect as of July 1, 2014. Unfortunately the practice impact of the new act is that permanently injured workers will now receive between 25% adn 75% less for any life changing permanent injury. All of this was done under the banner of being more “business friendly”. Unfortunately, this comes at a cost which we place on the backs of our working men and women.

I was recently interviewed about the new law. You can watch it below:

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Recently a widow filed a multimillion dollar wrongful death lawsuit here in Tennessee after her husband was killed in a construction accident. I was recently interviewed about this case. Construction accident cases always create complex legal issues. There tends to be a lot of finger pointing and the Tennessee Workers Compensation Law shields many of the employers. You can watch my interview on the topic below:

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A glimpse into the true feeling of the anit-worker Tennessee legislature came to light this week. While speaking to what was believe to be lobbyist or constitutes a representative was heard saying that he was going to “ram” the new Tennessee Workers Compensation Bill through his committee. You can read more about the statement and watch the video here. This is a sad day when a representative is more concerned about getting a new workers compensation bill pushed through instead of really considering the impact of the bill. So lets look at what this bill is going to do that the legislature is not willing to consider:

EXPAND THE SIZE OF TENNESSEE GOVERNMENT AND TAXPAYER SPENDING ON WC CLAIMS.

THE BILL
CREATES A BRAND NEW WC AGENCY

CREATES A NEW WC CZAR TO OVERSEE ALL WC CLAIMS
CREATES A NEW WC COURT WITH NEW WC JUDGES
PREVENTS OUR CURRENT JUDGES AND COURT SYSTEM FROM MAKING WC DECISIONS
THE WC CZAR GETS TO CHOOSE ALL WC JUDGES AND REVIEW ALL WC DECISIONS

THE CREATION OF THE NEW AGENCY AND WC COURT
SHIFTS COST OF HANDLING WC CLAIMS TO TAXPAYERS
SUCH COSTS HAVE ALWAYS BEEN PAID BY INSURERS

CUTS BENEFITS TO ALL INJURED WORKERS

THE PROPOSED WC BILL:

CUTS PAYMENTS TO INJURED WORKERS WHO CAN RETURN TO WORK BY ONE-THIRD. THESE CUTS, ALONG WITH CUTS IN 2008, MEAN AN INJURED WORKER WHO GOES BACK TO WORK COLLECTS 60% LESS THAN IN 2007.

DRASTICALLY CUTS PAYMENTS TO WORKERS WHO ARE SO INJURED THEY CANNOT GO BACK TO WORK. CHANGES IN 2004 AND 2008 ALREADY CUT THESE BENEFITS BY 25%-40%.

BUSINESSES AND INSURANCE COMPANIES HAVE SAVED COUNTLESS MILLIONS WHILE INJURED WORKERS CONTINUE TO HAVE ALL BENEFITS REDUCED
WHY? BECAUSE THEY TOLD THE GOVERNOR THEY WANT TO PAY LESS?

ENCOURAGE EMPLOYERS NOT TO OFFER INJURED WORKERS THEIR JOBS BACK
UNDER CURRENT WC LAW, WORKERS WHO ARE INJURED AND GET BETTER RECEIVE ADDITIONAL BENEFITS IF THE EMPLOYER DOES NOT OFFER THEM THEIR JOB BACK
THE BILL WOULD MAKE IT CHEAPER FOR EMPLOYERS TO SIMPLY TELL INJURED WORKERS THEY CANNOT RETURN TO THEIR JOBS
THIS WILL INCREASE NOT DECREASE THE JOBLESS RATE AS EMPLOYERS DECIDE ANY INJURED EMPLOYEE IS A LIABILITY – NO MATTER HIS OR HER EMPLOYMENT RECORD
THIS WILL ALSO SHIFT WORKERS This will also shift workers out of the WC system and into

DECREASES WORKPLACE SAFETY
FOR 100 YEARS OUR WC SYSTEM HAS ENCOURAGED EMPLOYERS TO CREATE SAFE WORKPLACES
BY REDUCING INJUIRES THE COSTS WC INSURANCE AND LOST WORK TIME IS REDUCED
THE BILL REDUCES WC BENEFITS SO MUCH THAT THERE WILL BE LESS INCENTIVE FOR COMPANIES TO PROMOTE WORKPLACE SAFETY
REDUCED OR ELIMINATES THE INDEPENDENT JUDGMENT OF YOUR DOCTOR
THE BILL CALLS FOR THE WC CZAR AND AGENCY STAFF TO SET MEDICAL TREATMENT GUIDELINES WHICH

DETERMINE WHAT INJUIRES ARE WORK RELATED
THE ALLOWABLE TREATMENT FOR EACH INJURY INCLUDING THE NUMBER OF THERAPY VISITS, THE TYPE OF SURGERY, THE TYPES OF MEDICATIONS, ETC.

THE SAME LEGISLATURE THAT RAILED AGAINST OBAMACARE FOR REDUCING PHYSICIAN JUDGMENT AND RATIONING MEDICAL TREATMENT HAS NO PROBLEM ALLOWING A NEW WC AGENCY DO THE SAME THING FOR INJURED CITIZENS

THE BILL INCREASES THE BURDEN ON TENNESSEE TAXPAYERS BY:

EXPANDING TENNESSEE GOVERNMENT THROUGH THE CREATION OF A NEW WORKERS’ COMPENSATION DIVISION

FORCING MANY INJURED WORKERS OUT OF THE WORKERS’ COMPENSATION SYSTEM AND ONTO TENNCARE, MEDICARE, SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY AND WELFARE.

INCREASES DELAYS AND LITIGATION COSTS FOR INJURED WORKERS’ CLAIMS

LIMITS YOUR ABILITY TO HIRE AN ATTORNEY AND TO HAVE YOUR CASE REVIEWED BY AN JUDGE Continue Reading

The Tennessee Legislature is quickly moving to remove benefits from injured Tennessee Workers. It appears that the legislature is moving so anxious to make changes to the Tennessee Workers Compensation Act they are failing to consider the ramifications of the act on the employees that need its protections.

You can watch an interview about the new changes below:

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The Tennessee Legislature is in the process of stripping the right of our injured workers. By reducing the already modest benefits an injured worker recieves big business and the insurance companies will be able to greatly increase their profits. There is nothing wrong with making a profit in this Country unless it is made at the tragic expense of others. That is what this bill will do and in turn many disabled workers will be supported by the taxpayers.

You can see a quick video about the law below and find out more at ProtectTNWorkers.org.

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Our workers compensation system was established to help people get back to work and provide reasonable financial help to injured workers who suffer from life changing injuries. It simply ensures necessary medical treatment and a modest recovery to help offset loss of future wages. It does not make anyone rich, but it is simply a safety net. Unfortunately, it appears our Legislature is about take away this benefit from the hard working men and women of Tennessee.

Despite the modest recovery currently provided under our system, the Tennessee Legislature has decided it is in the best interest of our state to drastically cut the benefits of injured workers. In reality, this will do nothing but hurt the working men and women of Tennessee and provide corporate welfare to our businesses. Insurance companies and self-insured business will reap the financial benefit of paying less money to injured workers for the same injury. Specifically, under the current law an injured worker is only entitled to recover for their injury if it leaves him with a permanent disability that impacts his ability to earn a living. If this occurs, a court can consider how the injury will adversely affect the worker’s earnings and attempt to help with that loss. One great aspect of the current law is that it recognizes that each case is different and the court can assess each case on its individual merits. For example, if I injured my back I would receive very little if anything under the current system as it would probably not impact my income. However, a construction worker would receive a greater, but still limited, amount as a back injury would significantly reduce his or her income.

Under the current proposed changes, all injured workers will receive the same drastically reduced amount for their injury with almost no consideration for the impact any disability will have on their ability to earn a living. The court will not be able to consider independent factors based upon the individual circumstances of each case. All workers will basically be lumped together and, if they receive anything, it will be a modest fixed amount based upon an impairment assessed by a doctor selected specifically by the employer or their insurance company. It is very unlikely that this will come close to covering the losses sustained by a majority of the disabled workers. So what will be the impact of this new proposed system? In short, workers become more disposable. Factories lose financial incentive to ensure a safe working environment. The Tennessee taxpayers and government social security and disability will have to help support our workers who can no longer support themselves. All of this is being done in the name of being more “Business Friendly”.

I would strongly encourage all Tennesseans to contact their legislature to obtain more information on this Tennessee Workers’ Compensation “Reform”. Let them know that there must be a balance between protecting both business interests and our workers.
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Governor Haslam and the Tennessee Legislature have vowed to overhaul the Tennessee Workers Compensation System. They claim that our system is too costly. So the solution to reduce the costs is to cut benefits to injured workers. This race to cut benefits will result in costs to the state and families that should concern us all.

Under the prior administration there has already been one large workers compensation reform. As a result of these reforms injured workers are now often left with only nominal compensation for their injuries. It is important to note that an injured worker will receive no money unless they have permanent injury. Also, the money is only given to help make up for the loss of income the employee will have because of the injury. It is not there to make an Tennessee injured employe rich, it is there to allow them to survive. So what happens when these benefits are cut even further. It will likely leave people unable to work to be forced to rely upon help from the government. So what is the real costs of this “reform”.
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I was recently interviewed about a Tennessee Workers Compensation settlement involving a former Tennessee Titan. The case is interesting as we tend to think of work injury cases as only involving factory workers, construction workers, truck drivers or other physically demanding jobs. But just like these jobs, professional athletes are also employees and their jobs are also physically demanding.

The case also sheds some light on some strengths and weaknesses of the system. The system is supposed to make up for the loss of income someone has a result of the injury. This player only received $114,000.00. Although that may seem like a lot it is really very little when you consider how much income he has lost. However, the case does show a strength of the Tennessee Workers Compensation Law, that is he will receive medical treatment for the work injuries of the rest of his life. That is truly a blessing to many of your injured workers.

You can watch the interview below:

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