In addition to the rising number of fatalities among military personnel stationed in Iraq, the United States is facing heavy losses among employees of independent contractors doing business in the country. The economic impact of those losses is hitting workers' compensation carriers, as well as costing the government in reimbursements to insurers, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
The Defense Base Act requires that all U.S. government contractors and subcontractors secure workers' compensation insurance for their employees working overseas. Under the War Hazard Compensation Act, if an injury or death claim is related to a war-risk hazard, the government must reimburse insurers.
More than 15,000 security contractors have traveled to Iraq, according to the Brookings Institution.
Between early 2003 and this April, 85 civilians working in Iraq died, and more than 400 others have been injured. That figure compares to 48 deaths in other countries employing U.S. contractors since 2001, including Kuwait and Bosnia. Although the violent opposition to a U.S. presence in Iraq has provoked ambushes and abductions, not all of the reported injuries are war-related.
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