Compitis, Term To Describe Patients' Conditions

Those involved in workers' compensation all agree that the system is problematic and that it's the fault of someone else. Accusations of fraud fly everywhere and are aimed at different people. The bosses are blamed by the California Department of Insurance.

Employer fraud happens whenever workers' compensation insurance is being talked about. The fraud ranges from underreporting of payroll by paying cash to employees to misclassifying employees in order to secure a lower premium. The top insurance regulator has a different view toward this. According to the insurance commissioner of California, employers pay large amounts of money to employees who abuse workers' compensation insurance.

Groups involved in the current crisis are not exempt from blame, an attorney who knows about workers' compensation issues says. The defense that workers get will be the strongest he can give. The number of fraud incidents by workers is small. From the years 1993 to 1998, a very small number of arrests were made from the millions of injuries reported, according to the California applicants' attorneys association Web site.

He wishes employers and employees would realize they are basically in the same boat and both facing off against insurance companies. The cost of insurance dropped five years after the deregulation of the insurance industry in 1995. Investment of the premiums in the stock market led to big profits when the number of insurance claims was low.

The incidents during 9/11 have added to the problems. The insurance industry and insurance companies suffered great losses because of these terrorist attacks. 235 pricate insurance companies still make workers' compensation coverage available in California, and he wants to support any bill that would put them in a state Website.

Another major bone of contention is that rates rise automatically when there's a claim, irrespective of the dollar amount, and don't fall when there are no claims. Since he is after some form of rebate incentive, he voices out his support for Senate Bill 191 which aims to reward employees who have been claim free for at least two years.

This physical therapist describes his patients' conditions as compitis. The recovery time for work injuries is different from the recovery for non work injuries, this gentleman says.

He said a person who may get injured from playing a sport will go to work sooner than a person who got injured while at work. This system of payment would help doctors recall who their patients with workers' compensation are.

Health specialists can expect the arrival of the check when the paperwork is submitted. This contrasts it from the requirements and processes that are usually involved with HMO and which are also sometimes inconvenient.

While chiropractors would have around 40% of their patients with workers' compensation, this chiropractor states that only 15% of his patients have the same. More services and therapies are provided by chiropractors in order to get the full benefits of this sytem. He said he also knows of patients who are abusing the system. Patients pretend they have injuries although certain tests can be done to detect malingerers.