Workers in California experiencing injuries at work that result in permanent partial disabilities (PPD) are eligible to receive compensation. The workers' benefits, doctors' and attorneys' fees, and the system that processes the hundreds of thousands of annual claims cost employers billions of dollars each year. This report evaluates the workers' compensation system by examining its efficiency and the adequacy and equity of its benefits, and suggests system reforms. The authors conducted interviews with system participants and found that the system is still troubled by many of the same problems that plagued it before the 1989 and 1993 reforms. It remains overly costly, complex, and litigious while delivering modest benefits. The authors estimated the wage losses of PPD claimants in 1991-93, and found that even after five years, the injured workers earned considerably less than controls. In addition, injured workers experience considerable time out of work, not just immediately after the injury, but also after the initial return to work. The authors identified particular problems among claims categorized by the workers' compensation system as "minor," the vast majority of claims. For this group, wage replacement rates were lowest. Reform proposals include an elective fast track to streamline claims processing, and a revision to the disability rating schedule to improve the relationship between wage loss and benefits paid.

This volume summarizes a comprehensive empirical analysis of the permanent partial disability component of California's workers' compensation system. Established early in this century, this system processes hundreds of thousands of claims from injured workers every year and pays out billions of dollars in benefits.

The New Mexico workers' compensation system has been widely regarded as a success story since it was significantly reformed a decade ago. Workers' compensation costs for the state's employers are among the lowest in the country, insurer profits are among the highest, and the system is among the least litigious. Given this environment, this book evaluates the adequacy and equity of workers' compensation indemnity for New Mexico workers receiving permanent partial disability benefits. The authors compare outcomes for workers with partially disabling occupational injuries in New Mexico with outcomes for their counterparts in California, Washington, Oregon, and Wisconsin. After controlling for differences across the five states, New Mexico's replacement rates fall in the middle; however, benefits for sustained earnings losses are not adequate by the commonly cited standard of two-thirds pre-tax wage replacement. Scheduled injuries, which include primarily injuries to the arms and legs, are less adequately compensated than unscheduled injuries, which are primarily injuries to the back. The duration of time until an employee's return to work in New Mexico is much longer than that in other states, which may be accounted for by the other states' active return-to-work programs.

The AMA established a guide for the rating of physical impairment of the various organ systems which provides clinically sound and reproducible criteria for rating permanent impairment. Contents include- impairment evaluation; records and reports; the musculoskeletal system; the nervous system; the respiratory system; the cardiovascular system; the hematopoietic system; the visual system; ear, nose, throat, and related structures; the digestive system; the urinary and reproductive systems; the endocrine system; the skin; mental and behavioral disorders; pain.

Investigates the adequacy and equity of permanent partial disability benefits and the efficiency of the procedures and standards used to provide these benefits. Includes a Ten-State Study and a summary of a Wage-Loss Study in three of these ten states.