California prosecutors are considering action to secure legislation making it a criminal offense for an employer to ask or coerce an employee to avoid filing a claim with the workers' compensation system.
Howard Goldblatt, government affairs director for the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud said Friday his organization was approached by California prosecutors seeking information about how other states treat instances where employers seek to game the comp system.
He said they mentioned cases where workers' were asked to seek treatment from their health insurer for a job injury rather than use the comp system or to get their workplace injuries treated in Mexico.
Currently, Mr. Goldblatt said, there is no provision that specifically labels such actions as workers' comp fraud, making it difficult for prosecutors.
"It's hard to prosecute without the specificity," Mr. Goldblatt said.
At issue in such cases, Mr. Goldblatt said, is that the responsibility for the injury is shifted from the employer. By avoiding claims, a business can avoid comp accident experience rate increases.
"Because no workers' compensation claim is filed, the employer doesn't get rated" for having an on the job injury take place, he said. In instances where a worker agrees to seek treatment through their health insurer, Mr. Goldblatt noted that the injured worker may even end up paying for their treatment due to co-payments.
Going forward, Mr. Goldblatt said there's been no indication if the idea will become legislation. "We have no idea where it's going to go," he said.
However, he noted that the Coalition was able to provide the prosecutors with some guidance. North Carolina, he said, "has a law that seems to be on point," that makes it a specific criminal charge to attempt to coerce or encourage an employee to not file a workers' compensation claim.
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