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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16 Comments
This is what I don’t understand about the democrats in this state. You worship the ground that Sebelius walks on, yet she has done nothing for working people in this state. I know, you will blame it on the republicans who control the legislature, but if Sebelius is so popular, and she must be because i hear it on this blog all the time, then why doesn’t she use some of her political capital to push for a better deal for Kansas workers? Maybe she is too busy wining and dining George Tiller at Cedar Crest and chasing all over the Country trying to elect “Nobama”. Or maybe its just as simple as she is just as sold out to the big cigars as the republicans are.
The lawyers need mo money. You don’t believe they really “care” do you?
Yeah, I smell ‘ambulance chaser’ on this one.
We have been fighting to make workmen’s comp fairer every legislative year. Some years you can’t even get committee hearings. It’s similar to keeping Kansas minimum wage the lowest in the nation. Workmen’s compensation laws protect the owner by limiting the amount of expenses they should pay for injuries suffered in implementing the business plan. Sebelius has been a great help for employees but can’t change a law.
Makes sense to increase it at least to try to keep up with inflation. Getting hurt on the job and not being able to work then being penalized because the cap hasn’t kept up with the cost of living doesn’t sound right.
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Raptor
Posted September 22, 2008 at 8:54 am | Permalink
Makes sense to increase it at least to try to keep up with inflation. Getting hurt on the job and not being able to work then being penalized because the cap hasn’t kept up with the cost of living doesn’t sound right.
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Well, compensation is not the same thing as disability payments.
Compensation is a percentage payment(s) based on the type of injury as determined by a board or a judge. For instance, a permanent loss of an eye or an arm might give you more than a loss of two fingers.
On the other side, there are disability benefits which can be temporary or permanent. Permanent disability usually ends up as SSDI from the Feds, along with Medicare to cover the cost of medical expenses.
I think it depends on the state as well, but supplemental insurance that pays for ‘down time’ by issuing monthly checks due to catastrophic illness or injury is not considered in compensation, but might be considered with disability payments.
I’m sure the insurance moguls and attorneys will chime in on this issue.
Got it…didn’t understand the distinction. Thanks, Reg…I learned something new on this blog today!
“Legislators routinely pay lip service to the value of our work force.”
Oh this is so true; Kansas is way too slow to adjust things to the current times.
Let’s just treat regular folks like house flies, pull their wings off and see what it does to them!
Squirm!!!… You mutated maggot, Squirm!!!
This proposal seems to be one sided without viewing the comments by the other side; besides labor and our friendly trial lawyers.
the figure listed as adjusted for inflation, around $221,000 is not that much different than the current cap on limits in a civil trial..that limit is $250,000 for non-monetary losses.
The trial lawyers are unhappy with a state supreme court opinion on workers compensation. They are now asking the legislature to over ride the supreme court.
These are the same trial lawyers who said the supreme court is always right on the law. This was said during the education funding debate between the supreme court and the legislature.
When the supreme court comes back against them they then feel mistreated and want the law changed.
It has nothing to do about the worker. It has everything to do with how much money the trial lawyer can make.
“Makes sense to increase it at least to try to keep up with inflation. Getting hurt on the job and not being able to work then being penalized because the cap hasn’t kept up with the cost of living doesn’t sound right.
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I can and do agree with this.
“The trial lawyers are unhappy with a state supreme court opinion on workers compensation. They are now asking the legislature to over ride the supreme court.”
I can and do also agree with this. Regardless of the trial lawyers position, it is the right thing to do. Legislators, it is your responsibility to fix what is a state mandated program. Just do it.
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Ms. Humphrey is completely right. The majority of our legislature is Republican. The Democrats in the legislature fight every year fair benefits for those covered by workers compensation (which is almost everyone in this state). However, the bills have to pass to go to the Governor. Whether attorneys make money or not isn’t relevant to whether someone who is permanentlly disabled, and has been injured in the service of an employer, deserves fair compensation.
With the artificially low cap on worker’s comp, employers may just find it cheaper to not bother to fix hazardous workplace conditions, since they can’t be sued.
$221,000? I think I hurt my back today at work!
Mary,
You’re a home health nurse. If you didn’t hurt your back today, you aren’t doing your job!