Hawaii doesn’t have any more industrial accidents than could be expected anywhere, yet the cost of workers’ compensation in Hawaii is the highers in the nation and the number of workers receiving it is more than three times the national average.
That, according to a new study done for the insurance companies, is partly because of Hawaii Supreme Court decisions that tilt the law heavily in favor of the workers, the report concluded.
Unless some basic changes are made at the legislative level, workers’ compensation is likely to become increasingly expensive, said the report on the study by John H. Lewis of Miami, an attorney and nationally recognized expert on workers’ compensation laws.
Workers’ compensation costs in Hawaii rose from 23 percent above the U.S. average in 1972 to 42 percent above average in 1978.
From then until 1983, costs went up so fast that Hawaii employers now spend more than 2-1/2 times as much on workers’ compensation, as a percentage of payroll, than the average employer elsewhere.
Some of the reasons Lewis cited for his opinion that costs could rise even further were:
>> The increase use of vocational rehabilitation, a relatively new factor and the “glamour issue” in the workers’ compensation debate.
>> The long reopening period for cases that have already been handled, with new claims coming in cases where claims were already paid.
>> The potential for more claims in cases of heart attacks, mental disorders, occupational diseases. The Hawaii Supreme Court has said the law presumes these are on-the-job injuries unless the employer or insurance company can prove otherwise and rebuttal of these claims if virtually impossible. …
Many of the differences between workers’ compensation systems in various places are because of the way the courts interpret the laws and “the influence of the courts is particularly evident in Hawaii, “ Lewis said.
The language use in much of Hawaii is similar to that in other states but the courts here often interpret it differently, usually against the employer.
Lewis said the issue is not whether the court decisions are right or wrong, but the way they affect the system.
