Wednesday, February 09, 2011 Workers' Compensation Reform Clashes With the Idea of Conservative Politics by Shifting Burden to Taxpayers
“The Constitution is not neutral. It was designed to take the government off the backs of people.”—William O. Douglas, Supreme Court Justice
When he ran for President, Ronald Reagan took this quote and made it the cornerstone of his run to office, promising to get government off the backs of the people. We have entered a new era in North Carolina with Republican majorities in the House and Senate who have promised to reignite this flame and push a Reaganesque agenda of spending cuts and less government through this session.
On the table as well is workers' compensation reform; legislation is being pushed that will set caps on benefits due to injured workers. This reform it is touted as a means to grow business opportunities in North Carolina and lower insurance premiums for business owners…studies from conservative think-tanks seem to show numbers that support the need for this change. These studies are skewed and wrong.
However, if you look at the “end-game”, it is hard to see how such change will work to push the Reagan ideal of "getting the government off the backs of the people. If a cap on benefits to injured workers is passed, we need to start thinking about what will happen to these folks when the cap runs out and they are still medically and physically incapable of getting back to work. It is quite apparent that most of these disabled workers will end up on Social Security, SSI Disability, Medicare, Medicaid or Food Stamps. Meaning the costs insurance companies have been paying for injured workers’ medical care and lost wages will be shifted onto taxpayers. That’s right, the beloved “Joe the Plumber” gets stuck with the bill that should remain the responsibility of the employer and their insurance coverage.
This is not conservative, this is not “getting government off the backs of the people”. Call your Senator and Representative in the North Carolina Legislature and tell them that you do not want to foot this bill. |