Medical Costs for Workers’ Comp Have Gone Down

On April 22, the Texas Department of Insurance workers’ compensation commissioner Rod Bordelon gave testimony before the Texas House Business and Industry Committee on the latest trends in workers compensation since 2005.

According to the Austin Business Journal (ABJ), the reason Bordelon noted the compensation trends since 2005 is that was the year “the legislature overhauled workers comp laws.”

Here are some of the statistics Bordelon reported to the committee:

• Workers compensation rates declined by 50 percent between 2003 and 2011
• There has been a 27 percent decline in workplace injuries, and a 22 percent decline in the number of compensation claims
• One third of employers in Texas do not carry workers compensation coverage, and 20 percent of Texas employees work for a company that does not carry workers compensation coverage

Do the Workers’ Comp Reforms Benefit Me?

With Texas being the only state that does not require employers to carry workers compensation coverage, a significant portion of businesses are still not insured.

Companies that are not insured are liable under negligence law for workers injured on the job. This means that instead of just filing for workers’ compensation, an injured employee has to demand and then sue an employer for compensation.

If you would like to learn more about workers’ compensation, click here.

The Law Offices of Aaron Allison – Austin Personal Injury Attorney

Source: http://www.bizjournals.com/austin/news/2014/04/28/workers-comp-commissioner-costs-go-down-when-you.html