Understandably, businesses want to reduce their costs to maintain financial stability. Still, it shouldn’t be at the expense of the workers who face potential injury and illness on the job. As employers continue to successfully lobby their governments for decreases in their workers’ compensation payments, employees nationwide are experiencing the effects of a sharp decline in coverage.
The Effects of Lowered Workers’ Comp Payments
The benefits of workers’ comp settlements are at their lowest in 40 years. In sharp contrast, insurance costs for employers have never been as low as they are currently. As a result, some of the remaining costs are shifted to workers and U.S. taxpayers.
Injured workers are increasingly burdened with paying their own medical expenses while they wait years for approvals or denials of their worker’s comp claims. Companies are taking advantage of the fact that the federal government no longer regulates work accident laws. Those responsibilities are delegated to the states.
These legal shifts mean that workers get the short end of the stick. In the most severe cases, injured employees lose access to their caregivers or aren’t able to complete critical treatments due to lapses in their benefits.
How a Cincinnati Workers’ Comp Attorney Can Help
Workers’ comp protections need to change. Considering upcoming political elections, it’s essential we let our elected officials know about the devastating impacts of reduced workers’ compensation benefits. We must also be willing to have frank discussions about where our work injury laws are heading in this country.
In the meantime, injured workers who can “lawyer up” in the face of lowered or denied workers’ comp claims give themselves an advantage. However, workers who don’t have a personal injury lawyer on their side often find themselves with many bills and no support from workers’ compensation—the program designed to protect them from this in the first place.
The Cincinnati workplace injury lawyers at Clements, Taylor, Butkovich & Cohen, LPA, Co., want every employee to obtain a fair settlement if their working conditions result in injury or illness. Our legal professionals are adept at workers’ comp law, and we’ll fight for your rights until you get the compensation you deserve. If you’re facing challenges collecting workers’ comp benefits, contact us today at 513.721.6500 or schedule an appointment using our online contact form.