| House Bill 709/Senate Bill 544
New workers’ comp bill S692 would protect injured workers
The two bad, insurance-sponsored workers’ compensation bills continue to work their way through the N.C. General Assembly.
Meanwhile, two N.C. senators have recently introduced workers’ compensation reform legislation that we CAN support. Sen. Doug Berger (D-Franklin) and Sen. Warren Daniel (R-Burke) have introduced Senate Bill 692, which includes bette protections for injured workers.
The rival legislation — House Bill 709 and Senate Bill 544 — would strip injured workers of their benefits, eliminate medical privacy and choice and put insurance companies in control of workers’ compensation in the state. But the Berger-Daniel bill preserves the rights of workers and their employers.
Voters need to contact their elected officials in Raleigh once again on this extremely important issue. Tell them to vote no on H709 and S544 and to support S692.
In brief, here’s why S692 is better for workers and North Carolina than the other workers’ comp bills:
- Does not impose an arbitrary cap on workers’ comp benefits for the most seriously injured workers
- Ensures that people who suffer career-ending injuries continue to get the care and compensation they deserve
- Preserves an injured worker’s medical privacy rights
- Makes it easier for injured workers to seek specialized medical treatment and to switch physicians to receive the best possible care
- Improves vocational rehabilitation services offered to injured workers
- Doesn’t force injured workers back to work in low-paying jobs that are below their education and skill level, but instead seeks to help workers find suitable employment based on their education, physical and mental capabilities, experience, skills and pre-injury wage
