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New York�s New Workers� Comp System: Part 3

February 27th, 2007 Posted by Mark

All of those fraud protection measures I was talking about that are going to be in the new New York workers’ comp system could, according to my inside sources, save the state as much as $114 million a year. Again, these numbers are a big deal, because the New York labor market, one of the biggest in the country, is a big deal.

You want to hear what else is a big deal in this new workers’ comp system in New York? Safety. That is right, one of my favorite topics here at this blog will be a focal point of the reforms for the New York workers’ comp system. That’s because employers who make safety training a priority in their work sites and adopt programs to teach their workers about safety on the job would qualify for discounts on their premiums for their workers’ comp insurance. That means direct savings on the price tag for their coverage, on top of the long term savings they will see when their workers have fewer accidents. A double win!

Plus, as I was mentioning earlier, the new system could save employers money by limiting the amount of time that employees can get their disability payments. For instance, for a permanent partially disabled worker, the new limit will become 225 weeks to 525 weeks, depending on how bad their injuries are. That would average out to be about 344 weeks of disability payments, according to the Business Council. Their medical benefits, on the other hand, would be life long.

One of the benefits to these limits, supposedly, is that it will get workers to return to work faster, or at all, as well as to retrain and learn a completely new occupation if necessary if they know that their weekly payments are about to end.