Permanent Disability at Private, Self-Insured Firms: A Study of Earnings Loss, Replacement, and Return to Work for Workers' Compensation Claimants [Paperback]

Robert T. Reville (Editor), Suzanne Polich (Editor), Seth Seabury (Editor), Elizabeth Giddens (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2000

Employers that self-insure for workers' compensation have greater incentives than insured employers to return injured employees to work as quickly as possible. And because self-insured firms typically are larger, they often have more opportunities to offer injured workers modified work. This report examines the consequences of a disabling workplace injury for workers at 68 private self-insured employers in California from 1991 through 1995. Using employer-provided data on permanent disability claims, which were then linked to longitudinal data from the state of California on earnings before and after injury, the authors estimate the earnings losses associated with a permanent disability and examine the post-injury employment patterns of permanent disability claimants. They found significant earnings losses for claimants at the self-insured firms the five years after injury. The authors compared the experiences of workers at self-insured firms with workers at insured firms and found lower proportional losses at self-insured firms, but also slightly lower replacement rates. They also found better return to work at self-insured firms. However, when controlling for pre-injury earnings, industry, and firm size, differences in earnings losses between workers injured at self-insured and insured firms are diminished.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

While significant reforms in 1989 and 1993 improved workers compensation inCalifornia, the rules governing permanent disability (PD) benefits remain the most contentiousand most difficult to reform. The Commission on Health and Safety and Workers Compensation(CHSWC) is charged under the 1993 workers compensation reform legislation with conducting acontinuing examination of the workers compensation system. In response to publicencouragement at a fact-finding hearing in 1996, CHSWC decided to undertake a multi-yearreview of the adequacy, equity, and cost of workers compensation PD benefits. Through acompetitive bidding process, the RAND Institute for Civil Justice was selected to provideanalyses to support this review.The CHSWC PD project was designed to result in improvements of the system that arerigorously supported by research, mutually beneficial to employers and labor, and agreeable tothe stakeholders of the system. This project identifies the problems of the system, informs theformulation of policy through objective research, and builds consensus about appropriate andfeasible policy responses through constant collaboration with stakeholders. In the first phase ofthis project, CHSWC commissioned RAND to evaluate PD benefits.1 A focus of this evaluationhas been on the long-term earnings losses and other outcomes for workers with PD claims. Thefirst phase examined workers at insured firms. In response to stakeholder input, this documentextends those results, examining earnings losses, replacement by workers compensation benefits,and post-injury employment at private, self-insured employers.For more information about the Institute for Civil Justice, contact:Alan Charles, DirectorInstitute for Civil JusticeRAND1700 Main StreetSanta Monica, CA 90407-2138TEL: [phone] x7091FAX: [phone]

About the Author

ROBERT T. REVILLE (Ph.D., Economics, 1996, Brown University, Providence, RI) is an Associate Economist at RAND.

Product Details

• Paperback: 99 pages
• Publisher: Rand Corp (October 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 083302924X
• ISBN-13: 978-0833029249
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,445,261 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)