See the entire 2010
WSLC Legislative Report
War declared on workers' compensation
This year, business lobbying groups set out to manufacture a mandate to "reform" Washington’s public nonprofit workers’ compensation system. Their rallying cry was a 7.6% average rate increase in 2010 and a mountain of misinformation and misleading statistics about the size and duration of injured workers’ claims.
Among
the things they failed to mention:
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Independent national studies rank Washington as having one of the lowest employer costs for workers’ compensation in the country -- the 5th lowest of any state, according to the definitive state-by-state analysis. (Learn more.)
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This year’s increase, raising about $117 million, would not have been necessary had the state not granted a 6-month "rate holiday" in 2007 -- when employers paid NOTHING for the medical portion of their insurance -- at a cost to the system of about $315 million.
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State Fund employers’ rates have risen a total of less than 8% in the five years preceding 2010.
But in Olympia, where legislators of both parties are extremely responsive to business groups’ concerns, the criticism of our state’s system found a receptive audience. Several business-backed bills were introduced that would have been extremely harmful for injured workers had they passed. Among the worst were:
Compromise-and-release -- HB 2950 sponsored by Rep. Jeff Morris (D-Anacortes) and SB 6638 sponsored by Rep. Janéa Holmquist (R-Moses Lake). Dubbed "starve-and-settle" by advocates for injured workers, this would allow employers to be absolved of all current and future claims against them in exchange for a lump-sum payment to an injured worker. In states that allow this, employers routinely appeal claims and drag out the process so financial pressures mount for injured workers’ families who have lost their source of income. After this lengthy claims-and-appeal process, a lump-sum settlement becomes difficult to resist for desperate families, even if it won’t cover their future medical costs, which are difficult to anticipate.
Privatization -- Rep. Doug Ericksen (R-Ferndale) sponsored HB 2879 to privatize Washington’s workers’ compensation system by allowing private insurance companies to sell industrial insurance coverage. This would essentially hand over our public nonprofit system to the likes of AIG, the largest workers’ comp insurer in the nation, which would lead to denied claims for injured workers, more economic hardship for people suffering permanent disabilities, and higher costs for employers. (Most states that allow this have significantly higher tax rates than Washington.)
Thanks to strong opposition from Rep. Steve Conway (D-Tacoma), Chairman of the House Commerce and Labor Committee, these bills failed.
The right-wing Building Industry Association of Washington has teamed up with the insurance industry to file a privatization initiative, I-1082. The only people who will benefit from it are insurance companies and the BIAW, which has slipped in language permanently enabling them to siphon millions from the system to fund their political activities. This will be a major battle if it qualifies for this fall’s ballot.
There are many, many more stories included in the print version of the WSLC's 2010 Legislative Report. See the Table of Contents. Also, members of WSLC-affiliated unions can request a free copy of the printed version of the report.
2010 Senate Voting Record -- 2010 House Voting Record
Copyright © 2010 Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO