Change comes at workers’ expense, the ex-administrator says.
Posted: Thursday, September 10, 2015 12:00 am
Oklahoma’s new workers compensation laws may be saving employers money, but it has also made the state’s injured workers the most poorly compensated in the country, a former workers comp administrator says.
This week Michael Clingman, who ran the state’s old Workers Compensation Court until three years ago, released a comparison of Oklahoma’s workers compensation benefits with the rest of the states.
Randy Krehbiel 918-581-8365
randy.krehbiel@tulsaworld.com
Posted in Employment, Capitol report, Government, Local, State, Randykrehbiel, Homepagelatest, Business, News on Thursday, September 10, 2015 12:00 am. | Tags:
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Rules of Conduct
Welcome to the discussion.
7 comments:
Callie Marie posted at 11:04 pm on Tue, Dec 1, 2015.
It is really interesting that this new program makes it unprofitable for lawyers to work on cases. I agree that it still needs to be improved in order to find a balance that works for everyone. I'll be interested to learn more as this issue develops. http://fwtw.org/Injury_Attorney_New_City_NY.html
Dana Asher posted at 9:55 pm on Wed, Sep 9, 2015.
as usual...anti-worker republicans running the race to the bottom......and Oklahoma Chamber of Commerce...nothing but a tool for the republican party.
Ann McWhortor posted at 7:31 pm on Wed, Sep 9, 2015.
ML Wells
[thumbup]
grant holm posted at 6:54 pm on Wed, Sep 9, 2015.
Workers takin it in the shorts?
#duh
Gene Mortensen posted at 6:04 pm on Wed, Sep 9, 2015.
Of course it turned out like that. The Republicans and the Chamber of Commerce want it that way so they can talk about "business friendly" and all of the business will rush to Oklahoma in spite of earthquakes and dismal education..
The issue is that we have injured employees and we can either treat them fairly with medicals and temporary compensation and their employer pays . . .or . . . we can cut them short on medicals and compensation and the employer contributes to a Republican campaign.
Short quiz; if Harold Hamm had an injured employee who needed $500,000 for special medical treatment or he could spend that amount fracking and produce more oil and more earthquakes; which would he do?
When are the "low class" Republicans going to comprehend that their high rollers don't give a sou as to what happens to them? Harold couldn't care less.
ML Wells posted at 6:00 pm on Wed, Sep 9, 2015.
"...by making it unprofitable for lawyers to take injured workers' cases. ...". Workers comp has never been "profitable" for attorneys. Attorneys' fees collected on such cases are regulated by federal law. Generally, NO fees are assessed against "temporary" disability benefits and federal law permits a maximum of 20% assessment against "permanent" disability awards. The process is paperwork-intensive and time-consuming because, more often than not, the employer's insurer will deny liability regardless of the facts of the case - its teams of attorneys are on monthly retainers and THEY are the ones raking in the cash as they are most often paid by the hour!
Jim Smith posted at 5:42 pm on Wed, Sep 9, 2015.
Mr. Klingman misses the point.
Workers Comp "reform" was always about saving money for employers. Yesterday's Tulsa World editorial praised the latest reform without ever mentioning how fairly injured workers are being compensated.
Because no one cares about that.