Corzine Signs Workers Compensation Reforms Into Law By Dunstan McNichol/The Star-Ledger, nj.com - October 1, 2008
A package of bills designed to mend flaws in New Jersey's $1.8 billion-a-year workers compensation insurance program was signed into law by Gov. Jon Corzine this evening.
Among other things, the measures give workers compensation judges new powers to enforce their orders, make the failure to provide workers comp coverage a criminal offense, and give the business and labor communities a say on the panel that helps set workers compensation insurance rates.
The six bills were introduced after a series of articles in the Star-Ledger revealed political and bureaucratic entanglements in the workers compensation system that left injured workers waiting years for benefits they are due.
Lawmakers approved the bills in June, about six weeks after the articles appeared.
The reforms enacted today mark the first major changes to the state-mandated insurance program since a broad overhaul in 1979.
Set up a century ago, workers compensation insurance is designed to ensure prompt medical treatment and replacement wages for workers who get hurt on the job.
The Star-Ledger review found many instances where injured workers were left without benefits for months while insurers, government officials and attorneys argued over the responsibility for payments.
Adjuster / Examiner Claims Examiner Santa Ana Unified School District Santa Ana, CA
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