New Jersey Workers Are at High Risk for Asthma

The US Centers for Disease Control reported today that workers in various industries and occupations are at risk for work-related asthma. CDC analyzed data from the 2013 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System Asthma Call-back Survey and determined that in 21 states among an estimated 74 million adults employed at some time in the 12 months preceding the interview, 7.7% had current asthma.

New Jersey Workers Are at High Risk
Education 9.5% (5.3–13.7)

Education, training, and library 8.9% (3.9–13.9)
Health care and social assistance 9.0 % ( 4.7–13.3) 

Health care practitioners and technical 8.5% (3.6–13.4)
Retail trade 7.7% (3.2–12.2) 

Management 7.5% (3.4–11.7

Occupationally caused asthma has been deemed a compensable condition in NJ for workers' compensation benefits. An electroplater exposed to chronic acid spray and mist was awarded compensation because inhalation of the chrome dust acted as an irritant upon his latent disposition to allergy and was responsible for the resultant allergic bronchial asthma. Bober v. Independent Plating Corporation, 28 N.J. 160, 145 A.2d 463 (1958).

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Jon L. Gelman of Wayne NJ is the author of NJ Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thomson-Reuters) and co-author of the national treatise, Modern Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thomson-Reuters). 

For over 4 decades the Law Offices of Jon L Gelman  1.973.696.7900  jon@gelmans.com  has been representing injured workers and their families who have suffered occupational accidents and illnesses.

Workers' Compensation "Demise of the Grand Bargain" Seminar Papers Online

The 2016 workers' compensation "Grand Bargain" seminar sponsored by the Pound Civil Justice Institute has posted the draft seminar papers online in PDF format and are available for download. The 2016 Academic Symposium is entitled, "The Demise of the Grand Bargain: Compensation for Injured Workers in the 21st Century."

View/Download the 2016 Symposium Papers

PANEL I:  Work Injury and Compensation in Context,1900 to 2016
                 Emily Spieler, Northeastern University School of Law

                 Commentary by Charles R. Davoli, Workplace Injury Law & Advocacy Group

PANEL II: Workers’ Compensation at a Crossroads: Back to the Future or Back to the Drawing Board?
                 Alison Morantz, Stanford Law School

                 Commentary by John F. Burton, Jr., Rutgers School of Management and Labor Relations

                 Commentary by James Lynch, FCAS MAAA, Chief actuary, Insurance Information Institute

PANEL III:  ​Can State Constitutions Block the Workers'-Compensation Race to the Bottom?
                   Robert F. Williams, Rutgers Law School

PANEL IV: Outside the Grand Bargain: The Persistence of Tort
                  Robert L. Rabin, Stanford Law School  (Rabin draft introduction)

                 Towards a Less-Grand Bargain for Injured Workers
                  Adam Scales, Rutgers Law School

A live webcast is available via registration at: LIVE WEBCAST registration

Background
Workers’ compensation systems arose as one of the great political compromises of the Progressive Era: workers injured on the job gave up the right to sue their employers for personal injury damages in return for less generous but more certain benefits. This exchange became known as The Grand Bargain.

This bargain has survived over the ensuing century despite frequent political battles in the states, often fought below the national radar screen. Over the past 25 years, the attacks on these systems have escalated. Most recently, a politically powerful coalition has proposed further constraints on benefits through implementation of “opt-out” systems, which allow employers to substitute self-designed and self-implemented programs for the traditional statutory system. Remedies have become so constricted in some states that courts have questioned whether a quid pro quo still supports the Grand Bargain.

This conference will re-examine The Grand Bargain in light of evolving legal doctrine, a changed labor market, and changing politics. How well is the workers’ compensation system serving its original purposes of swift, sure, and efficient remedies? Does an employer-based insurance scheme for workplace injuries supplanting tort remedies remain desirable? How does the common law command of a remedy for every legal wrong affect the architecture of workers’ compensation systems? What responsibilities should employers and employees bear in this system? What are the ramifications of a move towards universal health insurance? Responses to these questions can inform debates occurring now in courts and legislatures across America.

Panels

• The Challenges of the Changing Legal Structure of Workers’ Compensation and the Changing Workforce
• Compensating Injured Workers in the U.S.: Back to the Future or Back to the Drawing Board?
• Workplace Injuries as a Constitutional Law Issue
• Alternative Structures for Addressing Workplace Injuries: Tort Law and Beyond

Paper Writers* and Discussants
Leslie I. Boden, Boston University School of Public Health
John F. Burton, Jr., Rutgers School  of Management and Labor Relations (emeritus)
George W. Conk, Fordham University School of Law
Charles R. Davoli, practitioner; Workers’ Injury Law & Advocacy Group
Michael C. Duff, University of Wyoming College of Law
Price V. Fishback, University of Arizona, Department of Economics
Hon. Dan Friedman, Maryland Court of Special Appeals
Monica Galizzi, University of Massachusetts Lowell, Department of Economics
Justin R. Long, Wayne State University Law School
James Lynch, Chief Actuary, Insurance Information Institute
*Alison D. Morantz, Stanford Law School
*Robert L. Rabin, Stanford Law School
*Adam Scales, Rutgers Law School
*Emily A. Spieler, Northeastern University School of Law
Hon. David B. Torrey, Workers’ Compensation Judge, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
*Robert F. Williams, Rutgers Law School

The Social Security Financial Report: An Insight Into the Future

Change is coming to the Social Security Disability program based upon the The 2016 Trustees Report that was published this week. It projects that the future finances of the Social Security Disability Trust Fund will require additional funding to remain solvent.

As of January 2016, 60 million Americans, or more that one in six, receive Social Security benefits. About one American family in four receive Social Security Benefits.  Approximately 8.9 million disabled workers receive benefits.

The annual report to Congress reflects both short and long term projections. While disabled works paid into Social Security for an average 22 years before becoming disabled, the system is projected to require legislative revision by 2013 to avert a shortfall.

Going forward it will be interesting to see what efforts will be made to subsume state workers' compensation disability indemnification programs into a single payer, Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI).  Integration would eliminate the disparities between "reverse offset" and "non-reverse offset" states, as well as the tri-annual adjustment jurisdictions. Another import savings in adoption of the SSDI program universally is that administrative costs amount to less than 1 percent of the program's expenditures.

If Congress fails to act by 2023, the SSDI reserve fund will be only able to pay 89 percent of benefits. Congress has  never permitted this hardship to occur for these very vulnerable individuals and their families.

Needless to say that based upon the upheaval presently happening to Workers' Compensation programs throughout the United States,  the Trustees Report of 2016 surely provides an open door for radical Congressional action.

Announcing the WorkersCompensation.com Best Blog Designees for 2016

WorkersCompensation.com, "the original and largest regulatory and compliance information center available for the workers' compensation industry," has announced the best blog designations for 2016:

"The blogs below were all nominated by citizens of the workers' compensation community. They were judged on several criteria. In addition to objective categories such as age of blog, frequency of posting and website traffic**, they were also assessed by an independent judging panel for content quality, value and timeliness. Designated blog category was determined by people nominating the blog. In the event of multiple nominations, the category selected by the majority of nominators was used.

"Congratulations to the winners, listed below in the order of their overall score:

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Work Comp Roundup, Author Michael Stack - Category: Education

From Bob's Cluttered Desk, Author Robert Wilson - Category: National Issues

Managed Care Matters, Author Joe Paduda - Category: Medical Management

DePaolo's Work Comp World, Author David Depaolo - Category: National Issues

WorkersComp Insider, Authors Tom Lynch & Julie Ferguson - Category: National Issues

Workers' Compensation by Gelman, Author Jon Gelman - Category: Legal

The Official Medicare Set Aside Blog, Author Jennifer Jordan - Category: MSA/Settlements

Conference Chronicles, Author Varied - Category: Education

Florida Workers' Comp Adjudication, Author David Langham - Category: Legal

Work Safe, Texas, Author Varied - Category: Carrier

Franco Signor MSP Blog, Author Varied - Category: MSA/Settlements

Workers' Comp Zone. Author Julius Young - Category: Legal

MedicareInsights Blog, Author Rafael Gonzalez - Category: MSA/Settlements

Alabama Workers' Compensation Blawg, Author Varied - Category: Regional/State Specific

Evidence Based, Author Michael Gavin - Category: Medical Management

Mark Pew, Author Mark Pew - Category: Medical Management

Louisiana Comp Blog, Author Varied - Category: Regional/State Specific

Sedgwick Connection, Author Varied - Category: TPA

New Jersey Workers' Comp Blog, Author John Geaney - Category: Regional/State Specific

The Return to Work Blog, Author Varied - Category: Carrier

Simply Work Comp, Author Varied - Category: Safety/Prevention

MEMIC Safety Net, Author Varied - Category: Safety/Prevention