Worker’s comp insurance was created over 100 years ago to provide medical care and financial aid to injured workers and to evade pricey and prolonged lawsuits. The constant changes to New York’s worker’s insurance policy has made it the most opposed system in the United States.
The typical injured worker belongs in the lower end of the socioeconomic bracket. These workers are overwhelmed with delays and the inability to sustain themselves and/or their family with minimal benefits. Compensation premiums greatly reduce a company’s profits and employers are being forced to decrease injury incidents. However, the system does not do a great job catching many fraudulent reports. Many employers are violating OSHA laws of filing claims and providing documentation as well as decreasing hazards and injuries; intimidating the injured from filing a report.
In 2007, a reform plan to challenge the problems increased the max. weekly salary replacement benefit, placing a ten year ceiling on the length workers with disabilities can accept weekly benefits, decrease the delay and settlement process, provide workers with better rehabilitation programs, and provide more accurate protocol for doctors to asses worker injuries. Unfortunately, these goals have not been attained.
If you’re business in with in New York state and are located in Manhattan, Queens, Bronx, Staten Island, Brooklyn, Westchester, or Hudson, it may be a good idea to view the New York Worker’s Insurance policy.