State lawmakers have long sought ways to streamline the multimillion-dollar workers’ compensation system, and both workers and employers agree that the system, plagued with long delays and what many see as ineffective solutions, could run more smoothly.
Under Haslam’s plan, a new state agency would handle all claim disputes. Instead of moving to the courthouse after that, which is how the system operates now, the new agency would hear nearly all appeals.
This move streamlines the court system by creating an new entirely new administrative court system and attached bureaucracy to the same workload. The risk here is a double loss for Tennesseans: fewer legal rights for workers while doubling administrative cost. Nothing in the plan has moved to control premium costs for employers or protect workers from unscrupulous insurance companies trying to game the system. One form of 'simplification' is to deny workers the basic right of choosing their own doctor.
Quite bluntly, it's only pro-business if your business is insurance and only pro-worker if you manage never to get hurt. Tennessee tax payers will feel the pain universally.
