(Photo: Mark Davis stands in his trailer, surrounded by the cabinets he made himself. Kenny Goldberg/KPBS )
Governor Schwarzenegger says reforming the state’s workers compensation system has been one of his proudest achievements. Before the reforms were passed in 2003 and 2004, California employers paid among the highest workers comp premiums in the nation. The governor says since then, premiums have fallen by more than 50 percent, and employers have saved billions of dollars. But critics say those savings have come at injured workers’ expense. KPBS Health Reporter Kenny Goldberg has more.
Mark Davis lives in a trailer park alongside Interstate 8 in East San Diego County. His unit looks plain on the outside. But inside, it’s filled with gorgeous wood furniture Davis made in his 24 years as a cabinet maker.
He can’t make anymore. Davis hurt his shoulder at a job site three years ago.
Davis : One of the installers wasn’t there on time, so I turned around and told the guy: all right, I’ll help you unload some of the cabinets. So I turn around, was helping him unload a big corner cabinet, and just was carrying it and just getting to the point where it was getting too heavy, and the arm just kinda just popped out of socket, and just hung right down, just hanging there.
It was the second time Davis got hurt at work.
He damaged his right elbow in 1999. After a number of surgeries the workers comp system rated him partially disabled, and paid him a disability award.
Davis had to get his clavicle bone removed after the latest injury. These days, he can’t raise his arm very high.
Under the new workers comp system, Davis’s latest injury is considered to be to the same body part as the previous one.
Because of that, Davis’s employer gets credit for the disability benefits the previous employer paid.
So the new system essentially doesn’t consider Davis to be disabled at all.
Davis : I’m just kinda hanging dry and got no career, got no job, you know, and got no, you know, help or support, or anything.
California’s workers comp system was created to help people who are injured on the job. It’s supposed to provide medical care and treatment. It’s supposed to provide a reasonable income while a person is unable to work. And the system is supposed to provide permanently injured workers with a financial award.
All of these benefits have either been severely restricted, or cut.
Take medical care, for example.
In an attempt to reign-in costs, medical treatments are now subject to strict guidelines.
Dr. Robert Wailes is a pain specialist in North County. Wailes says his decisions are often reviewed and rejected by insurance companies. He says injured workers suffer as a result.
Wailes : They have less opportunity for different treatments, and it’s much more difficult to get those treatments approved.
Then there are permanent disability awards. They’ve been cut in half.
Attorney David Dugan represents injured workers in San Diego.
Dugan : The national average for the loss of a leg at the hip is $114,522 -- that’s what you would receive if your leg was amputated. In California, it’s $61,000.
Dugan says California now pays the 4th lowest permanent disability benefits in the country.
Susan Gard is chief of legislation and policy for the California Department of Workers Compensation .
Gard says the new system is designed to get injured workers prompt and effective treatment, so they can return to work.
Gard : The emphasis today isn’t on getting the highest disability rating possible, because that doesn’t provide the best outcome for injured workers or employers.
Gard contends the system performs well for the state and for injured workers as a whole.
But Gard concedes it’s not perfect. She says her department has recently completed a study on how permanent disability benefits correlate with lost wages.
Gard : What our study has shown is that there are some things in the 2005 schedule that need to be adjusted, and so we want to move forward with making those adjustments as soon as we possibly can.
Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner praises the workers comp reforms. He says costs to insurers have plummeted by 70 percent. Poizner says insurance companies are enjoying historic profits, and employers are benefiting from lower premiums.
Mark Davis can’t pay his rent. He’s about to lose his trailer. After working for 24 years, Davis doesn’t know where his next dollar’s coming from.
Through it all, a question keeps nagging at him.
Davis : Why do I deserve all this, when all I did was get hurt at work?
Kenny Goldberg, KPBS News.
