Percentage of Loss Due to Injury

[Surgery4]

Who determines how much loss of a body part. Is it your Doctor or the IME Doctor or just a set standard in Illinois. Just say for a shoulder injury who determines how much loss of the shoulder you have incurred as the result of your injury.

[.SH]

the comp court has the final say. they rely on medical evidence from all opinions that are submitted.

[deman]

why dont we have a non adversarial system ,that is balanced between employers and injured employees.....the very fact that pain and suffering is not considered in a permenant injury suit is beyond insane

[.SH]

they tried running work injuries thru the regular civil court system -it was a catastrophe.
a separate system based on "no fault" was so much better that every state soon switched.
you should get some background information if you want to offer realistic reform ideas.

[BvIA]

why dont we have a non adversarial system ,that is balanced between employers and injured employees.....the very fact that pain and suffering is not considered in a permenant injury suit is beyond insane

It you take work injury to tort/civil court, you'd have trial by jury. At the end of the day, there wouldn't be any employers left, they'd all be bankrupt paying awards.

Without the WC system, such as it is, you would have to prove fault...you would not have TTD, medical, or any PD indemnity benefits until you got to court. Attys would demand retainer fees up front. There would be no guarantee you would win with a jury, no cash in hand at the end of the case, but you would still owe the atty fees.

The PPD indemnity you receive based on impairment/PD rating is basically money for "pain and suffering"...it has just been predetermined by your elected state representatives.

If you have a suggestion on how the system can be made more equitable for all parties... I'd like to hear it. No one has come up with a "fair" system yet.

[.SH]

here is a very general 2 page "history" of US workers' Compensation (along with other significant information):
http://www.nasi.org/sites/default/fi..._Comp_2010.pdf

[complwyr]

Taking a work injury to civil court would actually be a losing proposition for most injured workers. The worker would have to prove that he was injured due to negligence by the employer in order to recover. Most workers' comp injuries are not due to the negligence of the employer.

We will never have a "fair" system so long as insurance carriers and big businesses are allowed to lobby legislators, and for so long as working people elect pro-business conservative politicans to represent them in state legislatures.