If Kansas is going to keep its cap on workers’ compensation payments, that cap needs to be reasonable and should be adjusted based on cost of living. A new study released last week noted that the $125,000 cap for a worker with a permanent and total disability has not been changed since 1987. If that cap were adjusted for inflation, it would be set at $221,455, according to the University of Kansas Institute for Policy and Social Research. It’s no wonder Kansas ranks near the bottom of states in workers’ compensation benefits.
“Legislators routinely pay lip service to the value of our work force, but if they really believe in supporting the workers of this state, they will fix this problem in 2009,” said Terry Humphrey, executive director of the Kansas Association of Justice, which is made up of labor groups and lawyers who represent injured workers.
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