House Bill 709 is wrong for North Carolina!
North Carolina already has a workers’ comp system that is balanced and cost efficient. We don’t need reform for reform’s sake. Here are some facts about N.C. Workers’ Comp:
Injured workers only get benefits as long as they are disabled.
• Most claims end in the employee’s return to work or settlement of the case. Injured workers that receive long term benefits are the most disabled and the most in need of compensation to feed their families.
• Once disability ends or the injured worker returns to work, workers’ comp benefits stop. N.C. Gen. Stat. §97-18.1. Even if the employee objects, a telephone hearing is conducted within 25 days of the employer’s application.
• Medical treatment is limited to two years following the last payment of compensation. N.C. Gen. Stat. §97-25.1.
Employers already have the right to obtain medical information.
• Insurers and employers have unrestricted access to medical records for the injury. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 97-25.6
• The employer or insurer may send a medical questionnaire to the doctor, or request that the Industrial Commission allow them to ask other questions.
• The current law protects injured employees and their physicians from interference with the doctor-patient relationship.
There is no crisis calling for drastic action.
• Workers’ compensation premiums in North Carolina have declined! Insurers have seen rates drop 21% since 1995.
• Any costs that insurers would save at the expense of seriously injured workers would not have to be passed on to businesses.
House Bill 709 is an assault on the working people of North Carolina!
This legislation would strip medical privacy rights and limit benefits to people who are unable to work. North Carolina Taxpayers would have to pick up the pieces. Stop the windfall to insurance companies and stand up for North Carolina workers!
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