Workers’ Compensation Policy Review

Summary of the Contents – January/February 2006

“Comparing States’ Workers’ Compensation Benefits and Costs” by John F. Burton, Jr. examines some of the data on workers’ compensation benefits and costs that can be used to compare states’ workers’ compensation programs.  The data selected are available for all or almost all states.  Three broad categories of data are examined: (1) statutory benefits, which are the cash benefits prescribed by state statutes; (2) cash and medical benefits actually provided to workers; and (3) the employers’ costs of workers’ compensation insurance.  Within each of these broad categories, there are “multiple choices” for data.

The choices of which measures of benefits or costs are used for the comparisons can produce considerably different rankings for a particular state’s workers’ compensation program. The article compares four states – California , Iowa , Mississippi , and New Jersey – and also provides national averages.   If states are ranked in terms of average expected cash benefits per case (one variant of statutory benefits), Iowa has the highest benefits (135 percent of the national average) and California has the lowest benefits (82 percent of the national average) among the four jurisdictions. However, if states are ranked by the cash benefits paid to workers (one variant of benefits actually provided to workers), California has the highest benefits (176 percent of the national average) and Iowa has the lowest benefits (66 percent of the national average) among the four states.

The January/February issue also contains an interesting and insightful review by Glenn Shor of a book by John Fabian Witt on the historical origins of workers’ compensation.  The focus of the book is the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries, when public policy for workplace injuries evolved from reliance on the market, to several variants of modified legal rules governing injured workers and their employers, to workers’ compensation.  Shor concludes that the book provides lessons of continuing relevance, including the power of the status quo to inhibit needed adjustments.

Information on the Workers’ Compensation Policy Review

The Workers’ Compensation Policy Review is published six times a year.  Requests for a sample copy or for subscription information can be sent to WCPR, 56 Primrose Circle , Princeton , NJ 08540 -9416; by FAX to 732-274-0678; by e-mail to JBWCR@aol.com; or electronically. The January/February 2006 issue can be downloaded without charge from the website.